Naruto Uzumaki The Demon of Peace
by Varrukh
Summary: What if Naruto was forced from the village at the tender age of five? who could he meet? who will he befreind? how will his old village be affected when he grows up? prepare for a completley different Naruto Uzumaki
1. Chapter 1 Fear

Hatred, that's all he ever seems to know, hatred. Everyone hates him and he doesn't know why. He sees their looks every time he tries to go out into the street and he can never escape those glares. These people they hate him for reasons he does not understand. He is forced to live in solitude because of that hatred, he can't talk to any of the other children his own age because they are always grabbed away before he gets the chance to talk to them.

Why? What had he really been able to do in the few years he had scraped out a living that had gotten him this level of hatred from every man woman and child within this village. He was not a bad person as far as he knew, he made sure that he was as polite as he could possibly whenever talking to people, only to get shouted at in return and called a 'demon-boy' before either being completely ignored, a door closed on his face or even in the worst of cases to be hit.

He had spent many nights in his apartment crying himself to sleep wondering why the whole world hated him so deeply, why the whole world loathed him with such force that it was as if animals could be treated better than him. Crawled up in his bed he lay in foetal position waiting for the blackness called sleep to take him in it's loving embrace, for he knew that only in the shadows of his dreams could he ever have any hope of escaping the harshness of his life.

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><p>Outside his apartment a venerable old man stood at the door ready to knock before he heard the sniffling of someone who had obviously given into their tears. How could he honestly blame the boy? He was hated by everyone in the village for no good reason and was forced to try and scrape out a life at the unthinkable age of only five. Five! No child should have to fend for themselves at the simple age of five! It was inhumane! How could it ever be allowed! How could that damn council condemn this young boy to a life of solitude and loneliness the likes of which he doubted many a <em>man<em> could even withstand? He had even volunteered to take on the boy as a foster child but it had been instantly rebuffed by the entire council who believed it would only encourage favouritism. How he could have annihilated the entire council that day overplayed in his mind over and over as he heard the soft whimpering of the child beyond that door crying his lonely heart out.

It became too much for him to simply listen any longer and he reached into his robe's pocket and retrieved his emergency key for the room. Placing it within the lock he turned it and opened the door into the apartment, he was instantly taken aback by how dark it was in the room, sure it wasn't exactly that bright outside, maybe it was about late evening but the sun was still slightly out and allowed some light. In here however it was completely dark. The room was simply just one room with all different amenities in one kitchen and all in one room and a separate area for the toilet. The room itself was immaculate, there was no cutlery cluttering the sink or any wrappers from food lying anywhere, in fact he was surprised that a five year old child could keep a room ever so tidy.

At his musing the object of his thoughts made ye another sniffle and looked up to the person within his house. Cerulean blue eyes met with Hazelnut brown eyes as the small boy on the bed lay in the same position and finally understood the depth of what was happening. He was in the presence of possibly the strongest man in the world, no-one ever said a bad thing to this man, he was very widely liked, respected and above most others feared. That was exactly what the young boy felt just now as he looked at the venerable man in front of him.

What had he done now that had gained the attention of the mighty, Third Hokage?

Hiruzen noted the way in which those magnificent eyes looked at him in fear now. He could understand why too, no-one becomes Hokage unless they are completely and utterly able to lead and hold the entire village together. The small boy moved further away from Hiruzen almost to the point where he was close to falling out of his window. Once he reached the window however he realised that it was closed and even when open did not allow him the chance of escape, despite his small figure he would still have problems getting through that gap. It did not stop him from leaning desperately into the wall hoping that it would give way and let him fall outside.

"Naruto…" Hiruzen called out softly as he felt his heart constrict in the show of absolute fear in front of him, he had seen fear from children before of course, but this wasn't any childish fear of someone bigger than them, no. this was fear of someone who would kill him.

"Naruto…" he tried again as he could see that the small blonde haired boy did not seem at all ready to stop his attempts at escape, fresh tears had appeared on his cheeks already, the boy was terrified.

"Naruto, I promise you that I am not here to harm you" Hiruzen tried to reason gently, hoping tat his gentle tone would calm the young boy down long enough for him to be able to talk to him. Still the boy did not move at all from his place and the tears kept on streaking down his face, barely even glinting in the darkness from his darkened face completely in the shadows.

"I promise you that I mean you no harm, I will even leave my walking stick against this wall and keep my hands behind my back how does that sound?" Hiruzen asked very gently as he set his walking stick against the wall and placed his arms behind his back, just as promised.

He was pleased when he saw the small boy seem to become more at ease with him now, with renewed assurance Hiruzen took a step forwards only for the small boy to instantly recoil and raise his arms in self defence, covering his face. Hiruzen felt yet an other pain in his chest, was the boy honestly that scared of everyone? Was he honestly that used to getting hurt that he instantly tried to defend his face whenever someone came close to him? Hiruzen was definitely going to have some words with that damned council. This boy was terrified of everyone! How was he supposed to ever make friends? How would he ever get an education if he was afraid of everyone?

"Naruto, I give you my word as Hokage that I will not harm you in any way shape or form, I wish only to come over there and sit with you and talk to you" Hiruzen gently told the small boy, this time to his happiness he saw the small nod of the blonde hair and proceeded to move over to where the boy sat and sat at the edge of the bed. He could feel on the bed that the boy had yet again tried to escape from him and was now trying to move away.

"Honestly Naruto, when I said I was not going to hurt you I meant it, now come on talk to me, I have wanted to talk to you for quite some time" Hiruzen told the boy in a gentle way trying to make it sound more positive than negative.

"Y…You want to talk to me?" came the small squeaky voice of Naruto as he turned to the Hokage with a hint of fear still left in his eyes ready to expand at light speed.

"That is correct Naruto, I came here to talk to you young man" Hiruzen said in a happy voice to which he noticed affected Naruto, the boy seemed confused with the tone he was using.

"Why are you talk to me like that?" Naruto asked very suspiciously before he remembered his manners and added "Hokage-sama"

"Why because I am happy that I am finally able to talk to you of course!" Hiruzen answered with a small laugh which caused Naruto to wince slightly.

"No-one is ever happy to talk to me" Naruto answered plainly as he came forwards from the shadowy area that he had been covering himself in "They all hate me" he said as his face finally came forward from the shadows and Hiruzen was privy to a horrible sight. Naruto's whisker marks were no longer the only marks on his face but he also sported a slash that ran from the top of his right eye right down his face and through the whiskers until it met at his chin, Hiruzen could also smell rotting flesh and knew that there was some acidic material on whatever caused that cut.

Naruto turned away again and focused very intently on his index finger which was tracing intricate designs all across his wall. Hiruzen noticed this and realised that he may very well have overstepped himself. That show had been enough, he really needed to vent now, this poor boy had suffered far too much for even him to stand any longer, he was going to find whatever Shinobi had done that to the boy and was going to have some very stern words with him or her. With words possibly moving to blows very quickly, yes very quickly indeed.

"Naruto I will get to the bottom of this, I promise you that whoever done this to you will definitely wish that they had never done such a thing" Hiruzen declared to Naruto before leaving Naruto alone in his apartment again. Naruto sat in utter shock, the fear that he had felt for the old man had almost instantly been replace with affection. The Third Hokage cared about him? That was something Naruto never thought would ever happen especially not with the highest level of ninja in the village. Naruto for the first time in his life was allowed the happiness of thinking that for once someone actually cared about him.

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><p>"I would advise you leave the village right now unless you want to die" came a seething furious voice from behind Naruto, the small boy turned slowly only to be met with the balled fist that crashed into his face and sent him off his bed and cracking into the opposite wall. Naruto simply slumped to the ground, he was used to these kinds of beating, he just allowed his body to go limp. Then he was lifted up by the hem of his white t-shirt in order to look upon the face of his attacker, or he would have if they did not have a mask on.<p>

"I will repeat myself only once. Get. Out" the man reiterated very forcefully while at the same time throwing Naruto towards the doorway of his apartment where Naruto landed and slid before rolling slightly and trying to regain his footing at the doorway. He was unable to as a foot quickly connected itself with his stomach and uprooted him from the ground and sent him over the barrier in place on the balcony and he fell to the ground and connected with it in an almighty crack. Naruto cried out in pain as he felt his back cracking against his own weight crashing down on him and harming him so much. There was the sound of feet landing on the ground and Naruto only had a second before he was kicked right in his right hand side and sent right into the side of a building, where he fell to the ground again. Tears were coming out of his eyes in streams and his body was wracked by convulsions as his sobs moved his entire body. He had never had a beating like this one before it felt like every time he was hit an explosion happened and connected with him.

Things were beginning to become blurry now for Naruto, all he could see was the masked man as he made his steady approach to Naruto, he reached behind his back and drew a sword that looked like it had been snapped in half. The man walked up to him slowly as Naruto tried his best to stand on his own two feet even though he could tell that at any given moment his legs may very well just give out on him. He wavered on his feet, his small body could not take much more of this, he had endurance of that he knew but this was a whole different level, he had been beaten off villagers before, this was a ninja and they were making sure they done it right. Naruto kept watching as the ninja got closer and closer, the fear he felt escalated to new heights, he had only just made a bond with someone and now he was going to die?

Fear overtook him. He closed his eyes and fell to the ground with a soft thump as his tears came out again in torrents. He was crying again. The owners of the house that he had been thrown into came out to inspect what all the ruckus was about only to find an ANBU closing in on what looked like a simple small child.

"What are you doing man!" screamed the owner of the home as he came out with his wife in toe who also screamed "He's only a boy!"

"He is a demon-child and therefore is unstable and unable to function within this village properly, he is a danger and I am getting rid of it" the ANBU answered emotionlessly as he finally drew up to Naruto who was crying quietly to himself.

"Time to die demon-child" the ANBU said emotionlessly as he drove the sword right into the centre of Naruto's chest and watched as his blue eyes opened in sheer terror and pain.

Naruto had never experienced this level of pain before and it scared him. He may be five but he knew that this was not something he was going to live through. Closing his eyes he awaited the eternal darkness to take him over and release him from the torment that was his life. As the darkness closed in however a piercing red light took over his vision and he could feel his entire body being supplied with energy, with power, with anger. He opened his eyes to see that everything was clear to him, that was not what astounded him however, what really astounded him was the fact that the ninja that had stabbed him was now picking himself out of the side of Naruto's apartment complex.

The ninja stood straight again and looked at Naruto with hatred, the damn boy had pulled a fast one on him! But there was something about that same boy now. He looked to where he had stabbed Naruto and could see the blood still on the t-shirt but the wound was completely healed over. That was not what had his eyes glued to the small boy, oh hell no. what had his eyes glued to the boy was the raging red chakra that was flaming from his body in the shape of a fox and the fact that the boy's canines had elongated along with his fingernails into claws. But those red eyes were what really got him, he could see the intent in those eyes, the intent to kill.

By this time a dangerous amount of people had heard the commotion and come over only to see an ANBU pick himself out of a building and a small child standing across from him was a demonic chakra pouring from them and looking as feral as a caged beast. Many people had come the area and even some of the parents with the future generation of ninja in tow had come to this place in order only to see the attempted murder of Naruto. None of them had ever seen anything so horrific, of course some of them may have shouted at him or an even smaller minority have actually physically attacked him, after that show of brutality though even they were disgusted more by themselves now.

Naruto was completely unaware of everyone who had surrounded them now, all he knew was that he had to run and he had to do it now. Naruto turned on the spot and tried to run to his right in order to escape but before he was even able to move a few steps the ninja had appeared to his side and delivered a kick to his head that sent him right back into his previous hole in the wall. He did not feel the entire force behind that hit though which surprised him greatly. He fell to the ground again but this time landed in a crouching position and snarled. Everyone who was watching felt a shiver of fear running down their spine. No child should be able to make a noise like that.

The ninja again made a move towards Naruto and aimed a kick right at his chin only for the blow to be caught by Naruto's clawed left hand. While in that hold the ninja jumped from the ground and brought his other foot careening towards Naruto's face again. This foot was caught by Naruto's free hand, the ninja dropped to the ground on his back. Naruto in an act that seemed completely unlike the extremely fearful child that he was released the feet of the man instantly and leapt onto his chest where he started to mercilessly beat the man.

Just as Naruto was about to land yet an other blow to the man's chest there was a puff of smoke and he was suddenly pummelling a tree. Confused by the turn of events he looked up directly in front of him to see the Hokage standing there with the ninja he had been attacking sitting on the ground slouched over. That was not what Naruto was looking at however, he was looking at the look the Hokage was giving him, the worst look and child can receive, the look of disappointment. Naruto was on his feet instantly and backing away quickly as full understanding began to dawn on him. The red chakra began to leave his form and move inside of him as his claws and fangs receded and eventually his red animalistic eyes faded and he was back to his normal five year old self.

"I…I…I didn't mean it…..I…I …" Naruto tried in his small tone before he thought all was lost and simply turned on the spot and ran.

The ninja saw the direction that Naruto was running and could not help but smile to himself, he may have been pulverised but his job was done. The direction that the boy was going indicated that he was going to run right out of the front gates of Konoha into a world he could scarcely imagine.

"Goodbye, Kyuubi Jinchuriki" the ninja said quietly to himself as he watched the retreating figure of the small boy getting smaller and smaller.

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><p><em>Ok here you guys go, please go easy on me as this is my first Naruto fanfic and I don't know if I may have gotten any wrong technicalities. With his age though I tried to work it in with something I plan on making clearer in later chapter if you guys like this one enough that is. Anyway here is hoping that I have made good on this fic, thank you R&amp;R please - Varrukh <em>


	2. Chapter 2 First Friend

The Hokage stood in the same position that he had been in ever since he had saved that ANBU from almost certain death. The rapidly retreating form of Naruto had his sad gaze as he looked on at the boy in silent pain. He had failed the boy, nothing could compare to how he felt about this apparent failure to the Fourth Hokage. He had promised to look after that boy, but things were only made harder for him by the entire village and he had been forced into silent vigil over the boy. Even he knew that it was nowhere near enough to look after the boy but it was all he could do without having the entire village in an uproar.

Hiruzen lifted his hat from his head and while letting out a heavy sight rubbed at his aching forehead. He really was getting too old for this kind of stuff and heartache was not something he enjoyed all too much. He looked down to the ninja who sat at his feet, the position he was in and the way he breathed very heavily indicated that he was not going to be able to explain to situation anytime soon. He wanted to know the truth and in all honesty he would not put it past everyone in the village to give an entirely biased opinion against the boy. However he needed results and he needed them now.

"Who can tell me what happened then?" Hiruzen basically groaned out just waiting for the endless amount of grief the young boy would receive. He looked again down the passageway only to realise that the boy had probably by now made himself very scarce, that fact alone had Hiruzen's heart clamp down, again he reminded himself of his inability to protect the boy.

"It was that ANBU, all we saw was him beating the boy until he eventually became covered in that red chakra and began fighting back, it was all in self defence" came a voice from within the crowd.

"It was a very horrible thing to have to witness Hokage-Sama" came another voice although more bored sounding than the other.

"Horrible was not the word Hokage-Sama, that was downright brutality" a final voice interjected as three men stepped forward.

One man had long blonde hair that extended down his back into a large ponytail and blue-green eyes that glinted in the partial daylight left. He wore standard black trousers, flak jacket and a long black trench coat. However his arms were full of the small bundle that the Hokage knew instinctively was his daughter. The second man was one with a black goatee and pineapple shaped hair with a very ragged looking piece of clothing draped over his flak jacket. Holding onto his left leg was a small boy who looked like a miniature version of him besides the beard obviously. Finally the third man stepped out with his large frame that towered over his friends it required no description to know who he was and with his son on his shoulders the Hokage knew who these three were and knew that whatever they told him would only be the truth.

"Inoichi, Shikaku, Choza, You all agree that it was this ANBU that attacked young Naruto and not the other way around?" The Hokage asked them seriously, he did not want to get this wrong and honestly he was angry enough right now without anyone lying to him and making it even worse.

"Yes Hokage-Sama, us and all of these villagers will agree that we witnessed that ANBU brutally attack that young boy" Inoichi voiced as the little girl in his arms clamped harder into him.

The Hokage raised his eyebrow in slight surprise, he felt just a tad sceptical that all of these villagers who hated Naruto so vehemently, would defend him. His suspicions turned out to be just a bit over sceptical however as all of the villagers present began shouting all about how the little boy didn't deserve what he had gotten. To this the Hokage yet again found himself with his eyebrow raised. What had happened to the villagers that made them view Naruto differently now? The Hokage turned to the ninja by his feet and could see that he was beginning to breathe much easier now. Grabbing him by the shoulder strap of his chest plate the Hokage brought the ANBU up to his face level.

"Now you will tell me exactly what happened" the Hokage told the ANBU in an extremely sinister voice. Everyone in the area could feel the killer intent dripping out of the words of the Hokage as he talked to the ANBU.

The ANBU looked back at the Hokage without any hint of emotion in his voice he answered the Hokage.

"I done my mission Hokage-Sama" the ANBU answered back simply as Hiruzen felt a wave of anger wash over him at the insinuation of those words.

"I did not approve of any mission of this nature!" he exclaimed and again the villagers present were witness to the Hokage's killer intent as he furiously denied such allegations.

"I never said you did, this was my personal mission to eradicate our village of that beast" the ANBU answered back still without any hint of emotion behind his confession.

"Naruto was not a beast, if anything he was far from it. That boy was just a small child who had begun to fear what this world could even offer him, all he had known for so long was the fear of all you people. I went in to visit that boy for the first time today and do you know what I found? I found a child who has experienced so much that a child should never have to endure. The Fourth Hokage would be disgusted with all of you!" Hiruzen went on his rant as everyone of the villagers looked to their feet in disgust at themselves.

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><p>"Hokage-Sama, I will retrieve Naruto-San if you wish?" Inoichi asked as he stood forwards out of the crowd, Hiruzen smiled slightly at the show of concern on Inoichi's face as he came forward and said that.<p>

"No Inoichi, it is too late. That boy was on the tipping point of viewing his entire world as a hateful and unforgiving place. I thought I may have been able to bring him back but alas I failed." Hiruzen talked as Inoichi could physically feel the hurt that was coming from the Hokage, this business had really hurt the great ninja and he was definitely having a hard time.

"You on the other hand" Hiruzen brought the ANBU back into the conversation again as he looked at the ninja with hatred never before seen on his usually kind face. "Will spend the rest of your life in captivity for what you have done! That boy was damaged enough without you pulling the final straw and chasing him away!" the Hokage almost shouted in his stern voice. The ANBU barely flinched as the Hokage indicated with his hands and two of his loyal ANBU dropped down and grabbed the man. Once all three of them were gone Hiruzen turned to the large crowd that were around him and began to address all of them.

"Now hear me. What has happened to that young boy is one of the darkest things this village has ever been privy to doing. He did not deserve anything that he received from any of you. Due to the actions that have taken place I am forced to banish Naruto from this village because of the brutality in which he attacked that ninja, congratulations everyone. You gave that ANBU the ammunition he needed to banish Naruto from this village" The Hokage told them all as his voice dripped with sarcasm by the end of his speech. He was furious with them all to be honest, they had all mistreated that boy so horribly and had brought him up in a world where he only knew fear and pain. What kind of life was that for a child?

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><p>He kept on running, he didn't know where he was going, he didn't know how much further he could keep on going but he knew he had to continue onwards. The look he had received told him everything, he was no longer welcome in the village. He had finally overstayed his welcome and with that look it had sealed the deal, he was no longer wanted, although he could never think of any time that he had been wanted. Ever since he could remember he was on his own, he had to fend for himself, get used to regular beatings and learn when to stay away from everyone. The trees flew past him as he continued to run, the road below his feet had slowly been replaced by a dirt track that was leading further into deep woods. Still he continued onwards.<p>

The tears that had yet to stop falling were pattering off the ground as he continued to run, he felt his body becoming heavier again and knew that he was not going to last for much longer. It hurt too much. His legs were beginning to seize up and his chest was feeling tighter and tighter the more that he ran. His pace slowed down as he reached a clearing in the woods and unintentionally tripped over a branch sticking out of the ground. Landing face first into the ground he did not even cry out as his face met with the ground and felt all of his body begin to shake from fatigue. Naruto was in no condition to be moving but even so he tried with all his might to rise to his feet again, only to fall again into the dirt and find his world becoming fuzzy and dizzying.

As time dragged on he could not feel anything anymore, his vision was all but gone and he was barely holding onto his consciousness. Even that however was slipping from his grip, with his last gaze before being consumed in the darkness Naruto turned onto his back and gazed up at the night sky marvelling in the blurred images of the stars that twinkled in the night sky. Then it was all dark.

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><p>Naruto awoke to the gentle rocking of the ground, it was oddly soothing to him and he turned over onto his side only to wince in pain as his muscles tightened.<p>

"You alright there little one?" came a kind voice to his left. Naruto opened his eyes and could see that the trees were moving along. Looking to his left Naruto came face to face with the person who had spoken before.

It was a man who looked like he was in his late thirties maybe early forties. He had a neat beard and moustache, it was just right for him as it was not too long and did not make him look scrappy. His hair was partially long, reaching about shoulder length and like his beard and moustache it was black in colour if only beginning to grey a bit. His clothing was rather casual it was a simply pair of blue pants and a greyish long sleeved shirt that was covered over by a black coat. Naruto looked around where he was too and found he was currently riding on a cart that was full of goods such as food, water and such.

"Little one?" the man re-iterated softly as Naruto's gaze was brought back to him which he smiled at.

"Are you ok little one? You looked very tired and sick on the road I found you" the man told him with a kind smile on his face. Naruto felt strange he had felt this feeling before, back when the Hokage had talked to him, it was happiness. There was yet another person out there who actually cared about him.

"Yes sir, thank you. I'm fine" Naruto answered through a very croaky voice. The man noticed the way Naruto's voice was and his face turned from kind to concerned.

"Are you sure little one? You should not force yourself, if you need more sleep then have it. It is a long distance before we reach the next village" the man said in a concerned tone as Naruto simply looked at him in wonderment, he truly did care about him.

"I'm fine honestly sir, I'm just a little sore" Naruto answered with his voice sounding a little better and began to sit up straight in the back of the cart. The man seemed almost ready to try and persuade him otherwise but as he saw Naruto get up onto his feet and move forward with little pain evident in his features he decided against it.

Naruto sat down on the empty seat next to the man and looked straight ahead. The cart was being pulled by two horses. One of which was white, the other being darker grey with black patches over it's body. He looked directly ahead of them and could see that the woods they were in was thinning out and that he could see sand in the distance. He could see an endless expanse of sand moving towards them that only stopped when it rose far enough to touch the sky and the picture then continued to be beautiful blue from there on. The man could see Naruto's wonder filled gaze and smiled to himself as he talked to the young boy.

"So, what's your name little one?" he asked with a smile as Naruto turned to him, broken out of his trance.

"Naruto, My name is Naruto Uzumaki" Naruto answered the man with a slight smile.

"Well Naruto Uzumaki it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance" the man said happily as he extended his hand outwards towards Naruto. He instantly brought his hands up in a defensive gesture that completely took the man by surprise, why did the kid act that way? Was it anything to do with why he was on the road in the first place? Then it occurred to him.

"Naruto where does your family live?" the man asked softly and noticed how the boys expression saddened rather quickly.

"I don't have a family" he answered back sadly while looking down at his feet now.

"What do you mean you don't have a family?" the man asked trying to talk as gently as possible.

"I mean I don't have a family! No mum, no dad, no nothing. I have no family!" Naruto cried to him as tears began to appear on his cheeks, the man recoiled at the way the boy had completely changed at the mention of family.

"Ok, ok I'm sorry I didn't know, I just wondered if there would be anyone worried about you at all and you needed to get home to them" the man tried to explain his voice still gentle.

"No-one cares about me" Naruto told him as if it were a well known fact. The man was again surprised, surely that could not be true could it?

"I'm sure someone must care about you Naruto?" the man asked gently as he saw the way Naruto's face cringes almost as if in pain.

"No-one does, everyone hates me. I don't even know what I done wrong but people would hit me and shout at me for no reason. No-one cares about me" Naruto told the man finally as tears rolled freely down his cheeks and over his whisker marks. The man felt terrible, he had caused the child to cry, to him there was nothing worse than making a child cry.

"Now, now, now don't worry not everyone hates you" the man told him softly as he resisted the urge to bring the boy into a comforting hug as he saw the tear stricken face turn to him questioningly.

"How do you know that?" Naruto asked looking to the man with interest visible in his blue eyes.

"I don't hate you" the man told him with his smile back on his face "And there are hundreds of others in the world who don't know you that cant hate you" he finished with a smile.

"Really?" Naruto asked looking like a child who was given their Christmas early.

"Of course, there is a whole world out there that houses many nice people who will not hate you, if your lucky you may make some good friends" the man explained as his smile grew due to the excited look that had taken over Naruto's face.

"what are friends?" Naruto asked honestly stupefied to what the word meant, the man looked at him with an eyebrow raised but had to admit the way the boy had talked he didn't know much about friendship.

"Friends are people who you can rely on. They are people you can talk to easily whenever you feel down or even when you're happy. Friends are people who will help you however they can so long as you help them too" the man explained as he smiled at Naruto's understanding face.

Naruto was interested. Friend? He wanted friends, he wanted lots of friends, he wanted to be friends with everyone, then that way no-one would hate him and he could be happy!

"Are we friends?" Naruto asked cautiously as he awaited the answer to this important question, the smile on the mans face however made any worries Naruto may have had disappear.

"If you want Naruto, I would gladly be your friend" the man answered back kindly with his smile increasing as much as for him to close his eyes.

"Yay! My first friend!" Naruto exclaimed as he threw his hands up into the air in the first act of childishness the man had yet to see from him. With his arms still up in the air he threw them around the waist of the man and pulled into a hug. The man was taken aback by the sudden change in character but put it down to the boy being extremely young, children's attitudes changed very easily after all, he should know that all too well he reminded himself sadly. The man threw one of his larger arms around the small shoulders of the young boy and laughed.

"Well if that is the case it'd help if you knew my name wouldn't it?" the man asked with his laughter still as happy as it was before. Naruto nodded his head in eager anticipation.

"Very well, my name is Yuuka, Yuuka Inoychi" Yuuka told Naruto happily as Naruto simply sat there looking at him with affection evident in his eyes. Yuuka placed his open hand out in front of him again and this time Naruto did not recoil in fear but simply looked at the hand confused as to it's meaning.

"Place your right hand in mine and then hold on to my hand" Yuuka instructed and as Naruto done so he clenched onto Naruto's hand "Now we raise and lower our arms" he instructed and again Naruto done as instructed. Yuuka smiled at how well the boy listened to him.

"That is a formal way of greeting between men, between women it is a different matter, I will allow my wife to fill you in on that part" Yuuka laughed to Naruto, at the mention of his wife Naruto's interested was peaked again.

"Will your wife be my friend too?" Naruto asked sounding almost worried as he looked away off the cart and at some very interesting dead trees. Yuuka smiled at how innocent the boy was, truly he was far too nice for what it sounded like he had been through.

"Of course she will, my wife is just as nice as me" Yuuka proudly stated before Naruto's eyes were on him again almost sparkling. "But you'll have to wait until we go through the rest of the villages before you meet her" Yuuka told him completely forgetting he was again overstepping himself.

"That is of course if you wish to keep on travelling with me, I realise you said you had no family so I would be glad as your friend to invite you along with me and we can travel the long road together, and then you can meet my beautiful wife" Yuuka said as more of a question than a statement, he did not want to force the boy into anything but at the same time he didn't want to leave the boy alone.

"Well no-one is going to miss me so I'll go with you!" Naruto answered back again very child like in enthusiasm. Yuuka could only smile for this child, he was indeed too nice for what his past sounded like, that surprised Yuuka too. He would have expected someone who went through such horrors to be more angry, but this child seemed like he had a heart of gold and only wished to share his love for everyone. Yuuka smiled yet again with Naruto still hugging into him, how quaint, he had found a friend in the form of a small five-year-old child, his other friends would laugh at him but he didn't care. This little boy needed someone to care for him and he would gladly do it, it's only what the little boy deserved.

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><p>Naruto had long since fallen asleep and was breathing very calmly as he lay comfortable across Yuuka's lap. He smiled down at the young boy, memories flooding his mind of a situation like this not too long ago. Looking up again at a sudden gust of wind Yuuka saw the large fortifications of the Sand loom up before them. Yuuka shook Naruto in order to wake him, finding it rather adorable the way that Naruto so innocently awoke and rubbed his eyes tenderly. He had a large yawn that would have put a cat to shame and finally opened his eyes to look at Yuuka with a small smile playing on his lips.<p>

"Good sleep Naruto?" Yuuka asked with a slight laugh at the antics of the boy, honestly it was as if he had never had a good nights sleep. He had sleep from the edge of fire country until they were deep enough into wind country that they had reached the village hidden in the sand. That was a four day trek by cart.

"The best sleep I've ever had Yuuka, thank you" Naruto responded as his smile grew even more, maybe the sleep was all he needed to cheer him up, he did still look exhausted after talking to Yuuka and did not take much convincing to go back to sleep. Naruto had initially cuddled up to him and fell asleep but had gradually fell until his head rested on Yuuka's left thigh. Not wanting to wake the boy up he had just left him, and damn if he didn't have one bugger of a dead leg after four days.

"Where are we?" Naruto asked, astounded at the change of location, he had just been in a forest and now he was in a desert with large walls getting ever closer and a passageway into somewhere getting closer.

"This is one of our stops on the way home Naruto, welcome to Sunagakure" Yuuka said as he could see Naruto's face change from confusion to excitement.

"Will I make friends here?" Naruto asked hopefully. Yuuka laughed and gently rustled his hair.

"I don't see why not, these people are generally nice people" Yuuka answered as their cart moved ever closer to the entrance into the village both Yuuka and Naruto smiling.

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><p><em>Well here you go here is da sequel, I hope you guys don't mind me bringing in my own character but I wanted this to happen and I have major plans for him =] also for Naruto's desperation of friends I felt that at five years old to make as many friends as he could after what hell he had been through would only make sense, this also stays with his more forgiving side than any hateful side he may have had otherwise. Anyway thank you to all who subscribed and favourited my story, I hope for more reviews this chapter also too please? Thank you - Varrukh<em>


	3. Chapter 3 Marketplace

They continued onwards as the passageway they went through widened and eventually opened up into a more open pathway. There were many people going about their everyday lives. Children ran around happily chasing each other as they ran around all of the obstacles in their way, usually the older people walking around the stalls that were coming into view. Every once in a while though they would dart under the cart in order to lose their would be pursuers, only to be caught on the other side by their other friends.

Yuuka noticed Naruto's response to the activity of the children, he was confused but at the same time he had a smile on his face. Yuuka could see his spot in the marketplace coming up and slowed down his horses and pulled into his position. Stepping down from his cart he felt the ground for the first time ever since he had picked up Naruto from his place in the middle of the road. It felt strange at first but as time went by he came to grips with the stability of the ground below him and smiled before going to the back of his cart and preparing his goods.

His stall was basically out of the back of his cart, this meant that he could travel around and did not have to worry about making a stall or renting one out as he had a makeshift one already. Naruto had climbed over the piece of wood separating the goods area from the seats and had come to the back of the cart in order to help Yuuka.

"Naruto would you mind fetching some water for the horses? They have been walking for some time and I am sure that they will be thirsty" Yuuka asked kindly and smiled when Naruto nodded his head enthusiastically.

"The water is just over there in that well, just lower the bucket into the water, bring the bucket up and tip the water into this bucket" Yuuka instructed as he gave Naruto a slightly wide bucket in order to accommodate both horses of course. Naruto nodded again before going over to the well, careful to avoid everyone on his way there.

Walking over he accidentally walked into the legs of a woman.

"Sorry ma'am" Naruto said quickly before closing his eyes and awaiting the almost certain abuse he was expecting.

"Why that's alright little one" came a soft reply from the woman and Naruto looked upon the woman who had talked so kindly to him. She had red hair and green eyes and right now was smiling at him like no woman had ever done before. Naruto while momentarily frozen eventually remembered what he was meant to be doing and with a final smile to the women turned around ands moved over to the well. Bringing up the water in the bucket he poured it into the one Yuuka had gave him and took the time to look at his surroundings.

The place he was in was a very busy place considering how close to the outer walls it was. There were many merchants who were trying to sell their wares and Naruto could see Yuuka beginning his attempts to sell his merchandise. Naruto picked up the bucket full of water and made his way back over to the horses. The bucket was surprisingly heavy and Naruto found himself struggling to walk with the heavy weight acting on his small body, however after a few moments Naruto felt the weight being lifted and looking up saw a man holding that same bucket of water easily in his hands.

"Hey sir, that's for my friends horses" Naruto tried to tell him politely even though he was slightly annoyed at what the man had done

"I thought so, that's why I'm helping you" the man answered as he looked up from the confused little blonde boy and his eyes caught the sight of one of his old friends.

"Yuuka!" he cried out as he moved over to the merchant in large fluent steps, leaving Naruto behind and confused. He however did not stand still for long as he followed after the man very quickly. Yuuka looked up at the calling of his name and could see one of his oldest friends making his way over to him with his bucket, filled with water. Wait where was Naruto?

"Jurga! Where is the small boy who had that bucket!" Yuuka shouted worriedly as Jurga looked behind him only to see that the boy was no longer behind him but was lost in the midst of people who had suddenly fluxed into the marketplace.

"I don't know" Jurga answered him flatly with a hint of regret in his voice. Poor boy was lost in that crowd now.

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><p>Yuuka wasted no time and after a few bounds had made his way over to Jurga "Watch the cart while I find Naruto!" Yuuka quickly told him almost in a hiss as he edged past Jurga and into the thickness of the crowd, pushing his way through them all. He looked through them frantically, the boy was not a few seconds into this village and was already lost, some friend he was able o lose his friend after only, what, ten seconds? Eleven tops. He burst through the thick of people and ended up at the well he had sent Naruto to in order to get the water for his horses, looking to his left and right he could find absolutely no traces of Naruto. Then from behind him he heard "Sorry sir" as a man complained about walking into something, Yuuka did not miss a beat and plunged right back into the thick of the people.<p>

"Hey kid watch it!" came a shout down south of Yuuka's position and upon hearing the harsh tone he turned in time to see Naruto being shoved by a large burly man fatter than himself with small specks. At Naruto's sudden change of appearance to that of a scared little child again Yuuka felt his temper rise just a little bit.

"Did you not hear me kid? I said move!" the man repeated to Naruto who had frozen on the spot as his right hand extended out ready to grab at Naruto. Naruto closed his eyes ready for the imminent hit but was surprised when he heard a grabbing noise and opening his eyes gazed up at the mans outstretched hand stopped inches from his face by another hand. Naruto traced the familiar fabric of the clothing up the persons arm until he saw the usually kind face of Yuuka slightly less kind than Naruto had known it to be.

"Touch that boy once more and I shall deny you the ability to use your hands" Yuuka told the man kindly but the man could clearly see it in Yuuka's eyes that he was deadly serious and did not kid around. The man slightly recoiled at the sudden appearance of Yuuka and many of the people around them had stopped in order to look at Yuuka as he so casually threatened a man right in the middle of so many of them. The fat burly man looked around frantically until his eyes caught something and an almost sinister smile spread across his face.

"GUARDS! Help me! This man has threatened my life!" the man shouted out and Yuuka turned his attention to the two men who were walking towards him. Both dressed in the same attire, black pants, black shirt with a green flak jacket. These were Sand village ninja, and this was not good at all. Yuuka instantly let go of the man's arm and grabbed for Naruto, scooping him up into his arms and keeping him shielded from both the man and the ninja.

"What's the problem here?" came the bored voice of one of the ninja short brown hair slightly covering his green eyes.

"That man threatened me! He threatened me with my life for no apparent reason!" the man cried as he pointed at Yuuka with a very dastardly grin just beneath the surface of his mock hurt face.

"Is this true sir?" came the more authoritive voice of what he finally realised to be a woman, she swished her red hair out of her eyes to reveal glorious emerald eyes to Yuuka, if he were not already married those eyes would have entranced him.

"It is indeed ma'am" Yuuka answered curtly deciding that te get out of this situation he would require the ability to work with the system.

"And why was that?" came the bored voice of the first ninja again as he looked at Yuuka and then back to the fat burly man of whom he had the displeasure of knowing through reputation. He may be a ninja in place to protect the people of this village but honestly he would enjoy watching that man get what he deserved.

"He was about ready to hurt my little friend here and pardon my personality but not on my life will I allow that man to touch this boy again, in any way at all" Yuuka told them in defiance, no-one was touching Naruto, not so long as he was there. Naruto turned around to look at the two ninja and at that moment recognised the woman from before.

"Hi!" Naruto said quite enthusiastically to the female ninja with a smile. She looked at him in surprise, that was the little boy who had accidentally bumped into her while she went to begin her watch of the marketplace for the day. He was polite enough when he had apologised to her and she already knew that the man accusing the gentleman with the little boy was an idiot and a fight starter.

"Hello there" she answered Naruto with a smile on her face to which Naruto's only grew bigger, the other ninja noticed this and couldn't help but feel his own face begin to twist in to a sort of smile, the kid was too damn nice for his own good.

"Well what are you going to do to them then?" the man asked impatiently, as all attention was back on him he could see the cold gaze from Yuuka visually stabbing into him and the less than happy gazes of the two ninja just about doing the same thing.

"I think we should let them go. What do you think Kuro?" asked the woman of the duo as Kuro raised his hand to look as if he were thinking deeply about it.

"Me too Yurii, and I do believe that all of the villagers will agree it was through no fault of that child's. Wont they?" Kuro asked as he looked around the villagers as they all instantly nodded their heads, satisfied he let out a smile before turning to the small burly fat man "Now you may continue on your way unimpeded" Kuro said sarcastically before walking away to his post again. Yurii stood in the same position for a small while before she reached out and cupped one of Naruto's cheeks in her hand, with a fond smile she leaned in and kissed him on the forehead.

"Never lose that smile young one, it makes people feel better" Yurii said to him softly as Naruto looked at her sceptically.

"How do you know that?" he asked her, genuinely confused. At his confused face Yuri had to resist the urge to just grab him and hug him, he was the cutest and most adorable boy she had seen in a long time.

"You made Kuro smile. No-one makes Kuro smile" Yurii told him as she began laughing and walking away.

"My name is Naruto" Naruto shouted to the back of the woman's head, at this sudden shout she turned to look at him with a smile on her face.

"I just thought you should know my name since I want to be your friend" Naruto said his cheeks beginning to heat up under the gaze of the rather beautiful Kunoichi.

"That sounds nice Naruto-Kun" Yurii said as she smiled again and turned and began to walk away again, but not before raising her hand up to above her shoulder and waving at them with the back of her hand "Ciao"

* * *

><p>Yuuka's earlier anger had slightly subsided with the disappearance of the man that had threatened to harm Naruto, but it had completely disappeared with the way Naruto handled that situation on his own, he sure did know how to charm a woman didn't he? Yuuka watched as the woman joined the other ninja by their watch post and turned to survey the marketplace again. Yuuka began to walk back over to his cart again and back towards his friend who was in the middle of selling some of his wares, that's the good thing about having trustworthy friends, you knew you could rely on them when the time came.<p>

Yuuka set Naruto down by the horses and knelt down to his level so as to look him in the face.

"Now Naruto I am sorry about that, I did not know that the area would crowd as quickly as that and I almost lost you in there, I promise I will never do that again" Yuuka told Naruto deadly serious in his promise to Naruto. The little boy simply smiled back up at him however.

"That's okay Yuuka, you saved me and I'm fine! I even made a new friend!" Naruto answered back simply beaming with happiness, Yuuka felt slightly better after Naruto's show of enthusiasm despite the situation.

"That's good Naruto, now go and look after the horses. After all they still don't know you yet and they will want to be your friends too" Yuuka told the little boy and loved the way the boy's eyes seemed to sparkle at the thought. As soon as Yuuka let go of Naruto he was off to the front of the horses that were now drinking their water. Again he smiled at the antics of the boy, that boy could really make him smile and it wasn't only him that noticed that.

"You know you treat that boy just like him" Jurga said to Yuuka while checking out a crate of apples for any rotten ones, Yuuka did not miss the hidden message in that statement and felt himself smile despite his bodily urge not to do so.

"Maybe I do" Yuuka answered happily to his friend, Jurga seen this smile and felt somewhat surprised, he had half expected an argument to break out over saying such a thing. That incident was one that had deeply scarred Yuuka, but this boy was making him happy again. Maybe this Naruto child would be what was needed to heal the wounds of a shattered heart.

Jurga heard some giggling over to his left and upon turning to find it's source found the small boy laughing as the horses tickled him with their tongues trying to show their affection. Jurga laughed slightly, that boy knew how to make almost anything love him.

"I see that King and Queen like you" Yuuka said to Naruto with a slight laugh in his voice, honestly his voice would quaver more after what he and Jurga had slightly mentioned but for now he wished to be strong for Naruto, he was only a child and needed all the help that he could give the boy.

"Is that their names?" Naruto asked as he hugged the faces of both horses and they stepped forwards so that their noses faced directly to the ground almost as if trying to hug him back.

"Yes, when you have horses you have to treat them as if they were royalty, treat your horses right and they will treat you right" Yuuka told Naruto as the boy listened silently to him.

"So like you would treat a friend then?" Naruto asked obviously using his knowledge gained from earlier to his advantage now, smart kid.

"Yes, exactly as you would treat a friend" Yuuka answered with a smile as he turned to Jurga who was smiling at his friends healing due to the small boy.

"Right Yuuka, I will leave you for now and allow you to get on with your work, if you have any need of me you know where to find me, until next time we meet see you later!" Jurga said to his friend as he began to move around the cart towards Yuuka and began walking on his way home. As he reached behind Yuuka he leaned in closer so as to whisper in his ear "Naruto is a nice kid, some might say too nice for his own good. Watch out for that Gaara kid that lives here, he is the son of the Kazekage and is an evil child at that, keep Naruto away from him" Jurga whispered to Yuuka as he continued to stroll away.

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><p>Yuuka took a few moments to go over those words in his head, he had hear of the boy before but his times in Sunagakure were few and far between. He couldn't just deny Naruto the chance to meet new people though, that was just completely unfair, the boy wanted to make as many friends as he could and so far he had proved that he could easily make them. However if this child was as bad as Jurga was making him out to be maybe Yuuka had better watch Naruto if he were ever to meet that small kid. The horses had resumed drinking the water again and Naruto had went into a pouch on the cart and retrieved some carrots and was feeding the horses the carrots whenever they came up for them. Yuuka took a moment to remember where he had seen a scene such as that before.<p>

A small boy with black hair was on the seat of the cart feeding the horses happily as all of them crowded around him, the entire stable was let out for feeding and they all loved feeding from his hands. He giggled as their tongues licked his hands as they took the carrots from his hands. Yuuka slowly made his way over to the small boy so as to surprise him, the wind picked up suddenly and Yuuka caught the scent of something completely off. The long grass in the field was completely flat against the ground now and the horses had all ran off completely spooked. The boy looked around worriedly but when he saw Yuuka's face it brightened up substantially. Yuuka watched on in horror as three blurs closed in on the boys head and ran full pelt towards the boy almost already realising he was too late. As the blurs reached the boy it was as if time slowed down and Yuuka could see three kunai racing towards the boy's face…

"NOO!" Yuuka yelled out as he leapt from the ground and tackled Naruto to the ground with him, in midair he grabbed for his own kunai stashed down his sock and drew it quickly. Landing with Naruto under his arm and in a crouched position Yuuka was panting heavily. Only then did he realise that there was nothing to fear and that he was getting some very confused looks alongside some fearful ones due to the kunai that he had just recently drew. Looking around he could see that there was no immediate danger and realised that his memories had completely took over his vision for a moment there, watching Naruto act like that was as if watching the past playing out again and… no it was too painful to think about just now, but he knew that Naruto needed an explanation. Yuuka looked down to the very confused Naruto and gave him a weak smile.

"Sorry about that I just jumped the gun a little bit, just a little bit on edge after being on the road for so long" Yuuka tried to explain to the young boy and was happy when no questions were asked but simply a nod and an "ok" were uttered from the young boy as he was let down onto the ground and went back over to the horses.

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><p>"It really is still fresh in his mind, I'd have thought that after ten years he may have gotten over it, guess some people heal slower than others" Jurga mused to himself in the shadows before finally leaving his friend and the young boy. "Please help him Naruto, I know you need him but he needs you too, help mend his shattered soul" Jurga talked to himself as he hoped that Naruto would hear him, knowing full well he wouldn't.<p>

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><p>The day had been long and rather uneventful. Some of his goods were sold but not to the extent that he was wanting. After about five in the evening he decided that enough was enough and stored his cart away in the safe house for the marketplace. He brought both of his horses with him as he and Naruto walked towards a large white building that looked almost like a Spanish villa. Yuuka led his horses to the stables and gave them over to the stable boy before walking slowly into the reception of the building.<p>

"A two bedroom room please?" Yuuka asked kindly to the woman at the desk.

"Of course sir, right this way" the woman replied happily as she led Naruto and Yuuka through the corridors of the building until they came to their door.

"Enjoy your stay" the woman told both of them as she walked away.

"Will do, thank you" Yuuka answered back and turned back to the door, with a sigh he looked down to Naruto who was by his side and leaning into his leg looking very tired like. Yuuka reached down and gently stroked the back of Naruto's head.

"You can go to bed when we get in Naruto, you've had an exhausting day" Yuuka told the boy while smiling at him, Naruto looked up at him drearily and softly nodded his head. Yuuka opened the door to a modest two bedroom room. There were two single beds and a small counter where there was a kettle and two mugs. Naruto did not even stop, he walked straight into the room, over to the first bed and collapsed onto it.

"Goodnight Yuuka-San" Naruto said happily as his eyes finally failed him and his body shut down for sleep.

Yuuka looked at the small boy, that kid really enjoyed his sleep didn't he? Yuuka spied the kettle and some tea beside it, deciding that he had nothing better to do he put the kettle on and prepared some tea for himself before plopping down onto his own bed with tea ready to drink and a random ninja weapon magazine ready to read. Yuuka continued to read until the room was beginning to fill with red light, he turned to look at the show of the sun going down and decided that his own fatigue was indeed great too, in all honesty he had been trying to fight back the effects all day and that tea was to try and keep him away. With its effects beginning to ware off though Yuuka felt himself slipping into sleep, he got up locked the door to the room, walked over to the window, drew the curtain across and feel onto his bed much like Naruto had done and lost himself to sleep.

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><p>"Hokage-Sama, you sent for me?" came the voice of a white haired man who stood just outside the window of the Hokage tower.<p>

"Must you always use the illegal way of access?" Hiruzen asked dryly as the other man looked at him and smiled.

"Saves time you know, anyway. What is it yoou needed me for?" the man asked the Hokage in a serious note once again.

"Ah yes, Jiraiya I want you to find someone for me" Hiruzen told him simply.

"Ok, what are the catches and who is it?" Jiraiya asked expecting this to be no less than hard if he had to do it.

"There are no catches and it is a small boy" Hiruzen answered plainly, Jiraiya noticed how the Hokage seemed to be completely out of emotion just now.

"Who is the boy?" Jiraiya asked out of curiosity as he cocked his head to the side.

"Naruto" Hiruzen answered in an almost defeated sounding voice.

"Don't worry about it Hokage-Sama, I will find Naruto" Jiraiya said in a determined voice as he literally leapt from his standing point into the air and out towards the gates of Konoha.

"I guess I should have expected that from Naruto's Godfather" Hiruzen noted to himself out loud as he returned to the papers laying on his desk.

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><p><em>Well here is the update which is abnormally fast even for me, I just got so into the story yesterday that I wrote a large chunk of it and finished it off today. Anyway I hope that you enjoy this new chapter of the story as much as I did writing it. Also more reviews would indeed be loverly, and at the risk of sopunding childish PLEEEAAASSSEEE REVIEW! lol sorry had to be done, anyway thanks guys and I shall see you all in the next instalment =] - Varrukh<em>


	4. Chapter 4 Scars

The sunlight shone brightly in the sky and Yuuka had to stifle a groan at the sudden appearance of light in his closed eyes. Lifting his hand to protect his eyes he inadvertedly opened them and found himself awake, sighing slightly he went to move but found his left arm trapped. He looked over to it and could see a small bundle where his arm should be, opening his eyes a slight bit more they eventually focused and he saw blonde in his eyesight. It was then that he finally put two and two together and realised it was Naruto that was under his arm. With a small smile he wondered how the boy had managed to get there without waking him, he was not the heaviest of sleepers and usually his wife in their bed moving was enough to wake him up. Nonetheless Yuuka looked down on the boy with a smile on his face.

"You could be a damn ninja for your stealth tactics" Yuuka joked to the still sleeping Naruto.

Climbing out of bed in order not to wake Naruto, Yuuka walked into the bathroom and got down to the business of cleaning himself as he should have done the night before. As the water washed down his body he felt almost as if all his tiredness was being washed off him and made him feel much better than he had when waking up. He stepped out of the shower and dried himself off quickly before exiting the bathroom with his new set of clothes on for the day ahead of him.

He walked back out into the room with Naruto sitting on his bed fully clothed and ready to go, only this could be told from the way he sat with a smile on his face and his body leaning forwards.

"Ready for another day in the market then are we?" Yuuka joked to the young boy as Naruto very enthusiastically nodded his head in reply, causing Yuuka to laugh slightly.

_You treat that boy just like him you know_ Jurga's voice rung out in his head as he looked at the smiling Naruto, then he remembered his own response, _maybe I do_. He was not ashamed of it, the little boy was like a star shining through the darkness of his own predicament. No family to love him and no-one to care about him, as far as Yuuka had been lead to believe Naruto had nothing, and he had a space left by tragedy. By all means they had been brought together by fate to mend each other's sorrows. Naruto ran out the door the second Yuuka had opened it while screaming and laughing.

"I will talk to my wife about it when we get there" Yuuka intoned to himself as he closed the door behind him and made his way down to the marketplace.

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><p>The day had went by successfully so far, he had managed to sell a few things here and there, maybe not the most expensive of things but he had at least made some form of profit. Naruto sat on the cart to his right just a little bit behind him. The boy had idly been chatting to people as they came up to the cart and through many of his ramblings left the villagers walking away with smiles on their faces. This kid was extraordinary and Yuuka was beginning to get a bit sceptical of the supposed hatred he had at the hands of his previous home. He was definitely going to scope that place out. Where was it he had found the boy again? In the woods as they thinned out towards the desert, so if he had stayed on that road directly that would lead him right back to…<p>

Yuuka inwardly growled, they had better hope that he had come to the wrong conclusion here. If he was to go there and find them guilty of such atrocities then harsh actions will be taken. Covering his momentary brainstorm expertly Yuuka continued to sell his wares while Naruto continued what he had been doing before. He spied in the corner of the marketplace the two ninja from yesterday and kindly nodded to both as they gave a type of salute to him.

After a small while of selling their wares and chatting to those buying the goods a small boy of about Naruto's age walked over to the cart. He had red hair and soft green eyes, a kindly face and was dressed in some red robes with a small green scarf type clothing around his neck. The boy barely even managed to look over the counter at the wares and Yuuka wondered why there was a small boy all by himself in the marketplace.

Naruto as always had spied the small boy and tried to engage in conversation with the boy, whenever he talked however the small head simply looked around unable to find the source of the voice.

"Hey, what's your name?" Naruto asked kindly as he dropped to the ground. The small boy looked at him and for a moment Naruto thought he was going to be ignored.

"Gaara" came his curt and short reply and Yuuka mentally remembered what Jurga had told him the day before. _Watch out for that Gaara kid that lives here, he is the son of the Kazekage and is an evil child at that, keep Naruto away from him_. Yet as Yuuka looked down at the child he could only see a boy who looked like any other average child of the village. The only difference that Yuuka could pick out was that the other children looked at him with a sense of fear and upon looking back up at the marketplace he found it eerily quiet.

"Hi Gaara, my name is Naruto" Naruto said to the boy happily as he extended his hand out, through his apprehension Yuuka felt proud that Naruto was using his advice. The boy seemed sceptical at first but eventually reached out and took Naruto's hand within his own. Naruto smiled at the eventual connection of hands and it even caused the slightest of smiles to find it's way onto Gaara's face.

"My name is Yuuka too young Gaara-San" Yuuka said to the boy with a smile on his face, wanting to appear friendly if only for Naruto's sake.

"Hello" the small boy said almost nervously as he started to fumble about with the end of the sleeve on his robe.

"How can I help you then young sir?" Yuuka asked kindly as the little boy tried to look at his wares again. He was unable to do so as two ninja jumped down behind him, both were concealed behind veils on their heads and both grabbed a shoulder of the young boy's.

"Worry not sir, we shall get rid of this young pest" one of them told Yuuka quickly before he turned with his partner and made their way towards a building off in the distance, nestled between two others. Their destination looked very dark. Gaara's head dropped in defeat as he was effectively dragged away and whispered to himself.

"Please save me".

* * *

><p>It took Yuuka a few moments to notice it but by the time he had Naruto was already halfway towards the two Shinobi and gaining on them. Yuuka completely forgot about his cart and sped after Naruto, he was not stupid, he knew exactly what Naruto intended to do and he was in danger if he were to do such a thing. The two ninja jumped up onto the roof of the faraway house and Naruto followed if only differing by taking the stairs in stead of leaping. Yuuka followed him on his path.<p>

As Yuuka finally reached the roof he could see the two ninja and Gaara but could not see Naruto anywhere. Of all the times for Naruto to be the greatest at stealth it had to be the time Yuuka desperately needed to find and save him! Yuuka looked around frantically for him. His eyes finally fell on the two ninja who had drawn swords and were tracing it along the throat of the small child between them. Yuuka felt himself instantly enraged by that simple gesture and went to take a step forward. He was instantly stopped when a swish of red happened in front of him and he was then looking at the back of a head full of rosy red hair. The ninja from the marketplace turned to him and her emerald eyes almost shone out as she looked at him.

"Don't worry about Gaara, the sand always saves him from any and all harm" the ninja told him calmly but Yuuka could not help himself from shouting back at her.

"Then why not go over there and help him?" he yelled at the top of his voice.

"The sand will kill me if I do" she answered him again very evenly this time. Yuuka frantically looked around for Naruto again, that boy had better stay out of the way. Yuuka was not angry no, he was terrified. Over the short amount of time he had known the boy he had grown accustomed to him and did not enjoy the idea of losing him in a familiar fashion.

"It is ok, Kuro is watching him just now, see?" Yurii told him calmly as she pointed over to the other side of the building's roof where Kuro stood with Naruto in his arms. Naruto was trying desperately to free himself though. Yuuka breathed a sigh of relief at that.

Both ninja stepped back slightly and raised their swords above their heads. Gaara's was down slightly as if bowing his head in defeat. A sound in Naruto's direction had Yuuka's head snapping in that direction and to his horror he saw Kuro holding onto his arm as Naruto tore across the roof towards Gaara. Time slowed down as Naruto neared Gaara, both swords fell at a painfully slow pace and even as both Yuuka and Yurii took a step in order to stop everything they were too late. The sand that had been conjured out of Gaara's gourd floated in the air as it was unrequited now. At Gaara's feet lay Naruto with two slashes crossing down his chest. Gaara looked down at the form of Naruto on the ground in dire pain and the two ninja could see it in his eyes that he had changed.

The sand that hung around in the air buzzed with an almost bee-like quality to it as the sand vibrated around him. Gaara moved his right hand forwards and at that action a huge plume of sand moved forwards as one and slammed into one of the ninja, the other stood stupefied before charging in at Gaara. He raised his sword again and brought it down with all his might, yet it was stopped by a wall of sand that began to dissolve and revealed a myriad of sand shaped into tendrils with sharp points. The ninja looked into Gaara's eyes and could see the killer intent he had inherited, before he could even move any part of his body he was punctured countless times as all of the tendrils dug into him from all directions. The ninja fell to the ground, dead.

His friend who had been sent back a fair distance threw a kunai in Gaara's direction but as being disorientated it headed in stead for the prone form of Naruto. The sand around Gaara darted for Naruto instantly and consumed the kunai as it entered. As the kunai fell to the ground all of the sand darted for the ninja and completely covered him. Without even moving Gaara with only a though had the ninja within those sandy walls crushed and finally allowed the sand to dissolve again. The ninja fell from the tomb of sand to the rooftop with a thud. All of the sand made it's way back into Gaara's gourd and Gaara's original kinder face returned and Gaara seemed almost exhausted afterwards as he began panting heavily as if he had been moving around.

Yuuka burst past Yurii and ran over to Naruto who was still on the ground groaning at the slashes across his chest, Yuuka was already teary eyed. After what he had just watched it was hard for him not to go over and absolutely erase those two men from existence. As it was he knelt by Naruto's side and took in the image of his opened chest as blood oozed out freely and ran down the side of his stomach, his breathing was slow and laboured. Gaara looked won to his unnecessary saviour and then turned his gaze back to the man that hand since reaching Naruto extended his hands over Naruto's chest and a dull green glow was shining over Naruto's cuts.

* * *

><p>"Why did he do that?" Gaara asked the man almost nothing above a whisper as he stared at the injured boy. Yuuka almost turned to look at the child but feared he may do something regrettable, and what he was doing required a lot of concentration.<p>

"I don't know, I think he done it because he believes you to be his friend" Yuuka answered him slowly trying to keep his concentration more on the process than what he was saying.

"No-one wants to be my friend, all the other kids around here are afraid of me and run away whenever I get near them" Gaara explained as his feet became increasingly interesting to him. Alarm bells went off in Yuuka's head as it reminded him of a similar story he had heard not too long ago. With a heavy sigh Yuuka turned from Naruto, his work done to the best of his abilities, the wounds were closed over but the scabbing process would have to take place.

"He does want to be your friend, he knows loneliness like you do, he told me that no-one liked him. He just wants to make friends, that's all and he has chosen you to be one of them, his actions are due to what I told him, friends will help you if you help them" Yuuka explained as Gaara finally looked up to Yuuka and he could see the guilt played over the young boy's face.

"So Naruto would expect Gaara to save him in these same circumstances then?" Yurii asked with her voice sounding incredulous as she came nearer to them with Kuro in toe.

"Of course not, Naruto does not think about things like that, in my short time knowing him Naruto has a lot of love to give and not the people he needs to give it. Simply speaking all of us here are those who have received some of his love at one point. Yurii you wanted him to keep smiling, you said Kuro never laughs and Naruto made him laugh and young Gaara, he saved you from what would have been a deadly hit, had you not had your sand" Yuuka told them as a smile swept onto his face almost as if in fatherly pride of the young boy who was laying on his back behind him.

"What about you though?" asked Kuro as he cocked his head to the side and his hair followed suit.

"Well he gave me a glimpse of something I lost a long time ago, I almost went through those same actions this time…" Yuuka looked to Yurii apologetically "… sorry about that by the way, I can try to heal it if you want, it's rudimentary but it works" Yuuka offered the Kunoichi.

Kuro turned to his partner and sure enough saw that she was sporting an injury, she was holding her right arm in her left hand while her entire right arm basically lay limp at her side. He turned back on the merchant quickly with a slight bit of anger in his voice he remarked at the injury.

"Why did you hurt Yurii like that? She was only trying to protect you!" Kuro said as he began to step forward with his index finger pointed right at Yuuka. He was stopped however by a hand touching his chest and looking down he could see that Yurii's left hand had gently stopped him from moving any further.

"He did not hurt me, not intentionally at least. As he moved forward to try and attack those two ninja I tried to stop him and rammed my elbow into his gut, it stopped him but it broke my arm in the process" Yurii told him gently as Kuro's slight show of anger withered and died on the spot.

"Which reminds me" Yurii began again turning on Yuuka with a look of interest in her eyes as she moved over to him.

"You have either got the chest of a God or have some sort of training to get your chest that hard and that green light over your hands was a healing jutsu wasn't it?" the Kunoichi asked as she could see no changes in Yuuka's appearance that would give anything away.

"People gotta know how to help in these situations you know?" Yuuka answered her kindly as he nodded his head to her arm "Would you like me to heal it part of the way?" he asked kindly looking at her arm. Yurii looked to her arm and then at the chest of Naruto, grimacing slightly at the brutality of the attack and subsequent scarring she looked back to Yuuka before nodding her head and turning so that his hands were at her right arm. She could feel the chakra as it began flowing between his hands and her arm and could definitely tell there was more to it than she was seeing.

* * *

><p>Gaara watched as Yuuka performed his rudimentary healing on the Kunoichi and turned back to Naruto. He walked over to the laying form of Naruto and knelt down at his side. Naruto's breathing had returned to normal and he was simply just sleeping now, Gaara looked down on him and felt a smile coming onto his face. His sand would have saved him without any doubt, it had always done that. Yet Naruto had leapt in front of those men in order to take the blow meant for him and suffered dearly because of it. Yuuka had used a word for that earlier and Gaara struggled to remember what it was, after a few moments of thinking it over he finally remembered and stood up so that he was looking out over Naruto. The sand of Gaara's gourd came to life again and started to float around his head, eventually it closed in at speed and the rotations increased. Finally the sand stopped spinning and gravitated back into Gaara's gourd. The sand left his face and revealed a fresh cut in his skin, the kanji for love was written right above his left eye. Now they both had a link to what had happened this day, Naruto's scars on his chest and Gaara's memento on his forehead.<p>

Yuuka finished with his healing technique on Yurii and turned back to Naruto to find Gaara standing staring at Naruto with his back to the three adults. Yuuka saw no quick movements nor any aggressive stance and as such just left it be for as long as was needed. Before long Gaara turned back to them and they all gasped in surprise as they saw the scar that was on Gaara's head now. Kuro leaned over Yurii's shoulder and whispered in her ear.

"An eye for an eye then?" he asked almost seriously as Yurii nodded her head slowly in answer.

"Gaara, why did you do that?" Yuuka asked the big question everyone wanted the answer to with a hint of worry in his voice.

"Naruto saved my life and received scars, I wish to show my appreciation and show him that we now both bear scars to mark this day as the beginning of our friendship" Gaara answered very un-child like, so much so that it unnerved the adults slightly.

"Ok, I think Naruto will be happy with that" Yuuka answered back finally realising what Gaara was telling them.

Naruto groaned behind Gaara and that caused all of the people present to turn and regard the small boy again. He was attempting to sit up but was quickly stopped by Yuuka gently pushing down on his shoulders.

"Don't move yet, those scars will open if you move too soon" Yuuka explained and to his surprise Naruto simply nodded and stayed still. Naruto turned his head over to his left and took in the sight of the three sand citizens. The one that caught Naruto's attention though was Gaara as he had blood running down the left side of his cheek.

"Did I fail Yuuka-San?" Naruto asked weakly as he flet himself becoming disgusted that he might not have been able to save Gaara, he only wanted a new friend.

"No you saved Gaara, Naruto what you see on his forehead is the symbol for love, that is his way of saying thank you and also his way of forever remembering this moment. Like you will be reminded of it by those two scars on your chest" Yuuka told him as he finally indicated Naruto's chest. Naruto couldn't move and instead felt his body becoming heavier.

"Yuuka-San I feel sleepy, can I go to bed?" Naruto asked kindly as Yuuka could not help but smile at that display of childishness in the boy.

"Yes go to sleep and we will get you back to the hotel" Yuuka said, Naruto wasted no time and closed his eyes very suddenly, completely gone to the world.

* * *

><p>"Right, now are either of you good with handling small children with cuts that cannot be broken?" Yuuka asked almost sarcastically allowing a small laugh to escape his lips.<p>

"I might have been the best candidate, but compared to Kuro, I would be throwing the boy around the place" Yurii joked lightly as she turned to Kuro who was either unaware of what she said or did not care.

"I will carry him if you want" Kuro said dismissively as he reached down and laced his hands under the small boy and brought him up to his chest. Looking at his arm he turned to Yuuka again "He better not bite me again on the way there though, that was bloody sore" Kuro complained as they made their way off the roof. Gaara stood in place as he watched them all move off the roof.

"Naruto, when next we meet I will be stronger and I will be the one to save you. I will repay the favour" Gaara promised to himself before leaping from the roof in the direction of his home.

"See look at how carefully he holds him, it's almost as if he was his own baby" Yurii told Yuuka as she indicated Kuro who still looked completely unfazed.

"Shut up Yurii, I know what you're trying to do and it wont work" Kuro said as the ghost of a smile came over his face but disappeared quickly.

"Come on take pity on me pleeeease? I'm an injured ninja, be nicer to me!" Yurii complained childishly as Yuuka had to stop himself from chuckling at the way the two were acting.

"I guess it is only the boy that can make you laugh, I will get you. Although now I know a weapon against you, if ever I want a date with you I will use the boy!" Yurii told him putting an evil tone to her voice as she done so, the look of surprise that crossed Kuro's face made Yurii blush very quickly though.

"N…N…Not that I I would do that…. Obviously" Yurii tried to reclaim herself but the damage was done and Kuro was slightly smiling to himself as he carried the small boy to the hotel apartment. Yuuka smiled at the show too, but not out of surprise but simply because of the way they both acted around each other. If they had not been around Naruto he doubted that they would be as open as this, thus the fact that information had all of a sudden leaked out.

"We will see about that later then shall we Yurii?" Kuro asked kindly as Yurii stopped in place and her face began to redden quickly. Unfortunately she stopped right in the path of Yuuka and said man walked right into her causing her to stumble slightly. Yurii looked up to make sure Kuro hadn't seen that, fate hated her today however and he had seen the whole thing and was lightly chuckling at it. Mission accomplished, make Kuro laugh.

Yuuka helped Yurii back onto her feet and they continued to the hotel room, once into the room Kuro gently laid Naruto on his bed and slowly came back up to his original height. Standing right beside Yurii at his full height it was clear to see that he towered over her, she was a modest 5ft 7in whereas he was a more 6ft 3in frame and as such towered over her. Yuuka looked down to the boy asleep on the bed and then back to the two ninja in the room.

"thank you for your help" Yuuka said to them happily as he struggled to make a smile appear on his face.

"It was nothing at all, do not worry about it" Kuro answered for them both as a smile came on to his face when he looked back at Naruto "I like the boy" he finished as his smile stayed longer than usual. Yuuka looked to Yurii and could see the gaze she gave the back of Kuro as one he knew all too well.

Right then I think that I shall retire for the night" Kuro announced after a few moments of silence. Yurii turned to him and nodded agreeing that the two would require rest now.

"I shall too then, we shall see you both in the marketplace tomorrow then?" Yurii asked Yuuka as she turned to him but to her disappointment found Yuuka shaking his head slowly.

"I do not wish to linger here for any longer than I have to, I am going to make my journey home and I am taking Naruto with me" Yuuka answered and Yurii looked rather crestfallen. Yuuka smiled at this show of emotion and moved over to her.

"Don't worry we will be back soon enough, I just think that Naruto needs to settle into a home away from too much action before he goes back into any other villages" Yuuka explained as he looked over at Naruto.

"That is understandable, we shall leave you in that case, come on Yurii lets leave them, we can always see them tomorrow before they leave" Kuro reasoned to the Kunoichi. Yurii eventually nodded her head and turned to leave.

"Goodbye Yuuka, goodbye Naruto" she added while looking back at both and giving them a radiant smile before exiting, eventually followed by Kuro after he had looked back to them both as well and giving them a slight nod before exiting.

Yuuka allowed the two ninja to exit and then looked back to Naruto's sleeping form. That was when Yuuka came to the same conclusion, sleep sounded good about now Yuuka placed Naruto under the covers and then turned the light out and closed the curtains. Climbing into his own bed he covered himself with his covers and closed his eyes, welcoming sleep.

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><p><em>Well here you go guys the fateful meeting between Gaara and Naruto for you =] I also wanted to try and expand out on the characters of Yuuka, Yurii and Kuro a little bit here. Anyway I hope you enjoy and judging by the amount of favourites that this story has received, please review as normal, thank you guys R&amp;R - Varrukh<em>


	5. Chapter 5 Family

Naruto felt a tad worried about walking in the front door, he was assured of his warm welcome when he entered the house but he was all too used to the hateful glares of his old village's glare not to expect it everywhere. Opening it wider he stepped through into a large living room, it had a large two seated couch and a three seated couch with a small table in the centre of the room. Connected onto the living room directly ahead was a kitchen, in it a woman moved about in easy strides almost as if slowly dancing by herself. Naruto felt the urge to giggle but stopped himself, he really didn't want to get off on the bad foot with this woman if he could help it.

It was at that moment that he felt a presence behind him and looking up could see the smiling face of Yuuka directed at the woman dancing in the kitchen. Naruto looked back to the woman and cocked his head in confusion, adults really made no sense sometimes.

"To what do I owe my beautiful wife's fantastic mood?" Yuuka asked happily as he made his way into the house with his arms wide open, leaving Naruto slightly hiding behind the door. The woman turned to the voice of Yuuka entering and a nice pink blush crept onto her face as she then walked towards him. Yuuka had began to chuckle loudly as he finally reached her and caught her in his arms as he clamped onto her body, she began laughing alongside him as they embraced in the middle of the living room.

Naruto stood by the door almost looking like a blond sentinel, guarding the house. Or at least it would be the case if he had not been partially hidden behind said door. He had not seen this before either, so much of what he was not used to was being shown to him in such a short amount of time. People talking to him nicely, making friends and now the way that both the woman and Yuuka acted. Naruto enjoyed it of course but felt a twinge of sadness as he watched the display before him. He knew about happy families and this was one, both man and woman loved each other deeply and made it abundantly clear. Naruto had no doubt in his mind that their children would have the most loving parents imaginable. Naruto turned to go outside, he couldn't understand why, but he was hurting. All this show of love was something so foreign to him he did not believe he would ever deserve such a thing, why else would he never know who his parents were?

* * *

><p>He managed only a few steps before he felt a strong arm wrap around his chest, just above the newly healed skin. He stopped without much force applied from either person.<p>

"Naruto, you seemed so eager to meet my wife, you wouldn't just leave like that now would you?" Yuuka asked politely as he turned Naruto around to look at him. What he saw was not the happy face of the infant who he had been travelling with for at least a month, but that it was back to the same hurt expression that the boy had when Yuuka had found him.

"What's wrong Naruto?" Yuuka asked seriously as his hands tightened slightly around Naruto's shoulders, just hard enough that he was not hurt however.

"Nothing, Yuuka-San" Naruto lied blatantly, his voice croaking being the evidence of such lies, even Yuuka's wife was able to see through this lie.

"Naruto-Kun" the woman said softly as the small boy looked up to her with eyes glazed over with tears "What is wrong?" she asked still softly.

"Nothing, Inoyichi-Sama" Naruto responded through sniffles and heavy breathing as his tears took more of a hold and his sobs became more evident. The woman seemed surprised by the way the boy talked to her, she was not his superior in any way, why did the boy think that way?

"My name is Narino, Narino Inoyichi" Narino told him with a smile on her face that the boy for once in all his time with Yuuka could not seem to replicate at all. Yuuka was about to say something but his wife beat him to it as she reached over to Naruto's cheek and cupped his face in her hand.

Naruto looked up to her with his eyes still ready to pour forth the tears that had welled up, she had a nice friendly inviting face, high cheekbones with a slight pink hue to them. Her hair was a long wavy aqua blue colour, her eyes were purple and seemed to shine without any light being upon her eyes. Those eyes however were focussed on him and they were concentrated with worry for him.

"Naruto, what is the matter?" Narino asked him kindly as with her thumb she wiped away a tear that had made it's way down his cheek by now. Naruto's façade was slowly beginning to crumble as the woman before him was still being as nice as Yuuka had been.

"N-n-n-nothing, honestly" Naruto tried to lie but Narino could see through this lie instantly as Naruto diverted his eyes from her as he spoke.

"Come on Naruto, what is wrong?" Yuuka asked Naruto as he kept his hands on Naruto's shoulders and turned the boy to look at him. Naruto could see it in Yuuka's face that the man was worried and Naruto really did hate making Yuuka's life hard. The man had done more than enough for him and he only wanted to pay him back.

"I never had a family, so seeing this made me wish I had one" Naruto finally admitted through sobs as Yuuka came to a realisation and Narino looked at the boy in mild surprise.

"What does he mean?" Narino asked as she turned to her husband, an answered demanded in her eyes as she done so. Yuuka exhaled as he really didn't want to explain this with Naruto still there.

"Naruto is an orphan Narino, I found him on my way from Konohagukure to the Sunagukare" Yuuka began to explain as he picked up Naruto from the ground. The boy did not object at all and Narino was surprised in the way that Yuuka acted towards the boy. "He was tired and completely alone, when I found out he had no family to speak of and no-one to care for him, how could I just leave him alone somewhere?" Yuuka asked now looking directly at his wife, his gaze almost scared her, it was almost like a challenge. Yuuka was never like this so she knew for a fact this was important to him.

"I know Yuuka, you would never abandon anyone, especially not a child, I know dear" Narino answered as she looked over to her husband with a small smile.

* * *

><p>Silence reigned in as Yuuka moved over to the three seated couch and sat down with Naruto on his lap, the boy had become extremely calm since being in Yuuka's grasp and had even regained normal breathing.<p>

"So what do we do now then dear?" Narino asked Yuuka. Said man looked to her with no more of an idea than her, to be honest he had hoped she would have a good idea.

"I don't honestly know, I had kind of hoped that you would have a good idea, I thought maybe put him up for adoption" Yuuka talked seriously to his wife as Naruto sat quietly on his lap with Yuuka's hands under his armpits.

"Well it might be a good idea, I mean he is going to need parents isn't he?" Narino asked sadly as she looked down on the content face of Naruto, Yuuka had that affect over the boy?

"I guess so, but who? I mean I don't know any couples who want to adopt a child, do you?" Yuuka asked his wife his seriousness still in place, however Naruto had turned to look at Yuuka with anger on his face, mixed with determination.

"I don't want to go" Naruto said flatly, making his point made by standing up from Yuuka's lap and turning on him suddenly, both Yuuka and Narino were surprised by the young boy's change of attitude, from almost docile to angry in mere second.

"What do you mean Naruto?" Narino asked the boy softly to his back as he turned around to her with a less angry face, but his determination was clear in his eyes.

"I don't want to leave Yuuka-San" Naruto stated plainly as he then moved back slowly and once touching Yuuka's chest grabbed at him backwards, holding onto the man tightly.

"You wont be leaving me, but you need parents to bring you up" Yuuka tried to explain to the boy aas he rested his hand on the boy's head in an attempt to calm him down. Naruto looked at Narino in front of him and then turned around on Yuuka again but he had a smile on his face this time, even if it was only small it was still there.

"You be my parents" Naruto told him happily as Yuuka stared at Naruto with his mouth wide open and Narino looked at the boy's back in shock, did he really just say that? Yuuka attempted to talk but after many times of fumbling around for the right words he was unable to do so and dropped his head in defeat. He looked up to Narino and she felt a pain in her chest she had not felt for at least ten years, that look he gave her just mortified her beyond belief. She had not seen that dead look in his eyes for many a year now, she would catch glimpses of it every once in a while but he appeared to be fine afterwards, not this time he was feeling the full brunt of the trauma again.

* * *

><p>Naruto noticed the change in Yuuka and tried to get his head around so that he could look Yuuka in the face, acting in the way that only a child could ever really get away with. Narino could see Yuuka's hands moving up to his head and resting his head on his hands, his hands became fists and they began shaking slightly. She needed no further indication of what was happening and would leave him alone, that was all he required in this situation, that she knew very well. She moved over to where Naruto was still trying to look into Yuuka's face and placed both of her hands under his armpits and lifted him off Yuuka.<p>

"Come Naruto I want to talk to you alone so that Yuuka can have a nap, look at him he so exhausted!" Narino said to Naruto happily as she took his hand and lead him outside, Naruto looked back to Yuuka and understood. Yuuka was sleeping was he? Then he had better be quiet and not wake Yuuka-San up, Yuuka-San needed his sleep and Naruto slowly tip-toed out of the house with the woman leading him, a slight smile gracing her features as she noticed how cautiously Naruto was moving so not to make a noise.

She lead him around the side of the house and towards the horses stables.

"Say Naruto, how about we feed the horses for Yuuka eh? Give him a nice surprise to wake up to" Narino suggested, Naruto looked up at her beaming as he nodded his head.

"OK OK I want to give a gift to Yuuka-san since he became my first friend!" Naruto said happily as he walked alongside Narino happily humming an odd tune, the kid was so damn cute that was for sure, Narino thought in her head. He's almost lik… her heart slowed at the thought and she felt a tear sting at the corner of her eye, she may have managed to get over such an incident but her husband still held himself responsible because of it and had never fully forgiven himself. They reached the stables and Narino gave Naruto a carrot to feed to king while she fed queen. Naruto held out the carrot at his own height and offered it to king, Narino half expected she would have to lift Naruto onto one of the stable fences but was pleasantly surprised when king in stead knelt down on his forelimbs to accommodate Naruto's height and took the vegetable from his grasp. After finishing the treat king brought his face forward and nudged Naruto gently, the boy giggled slightly and hugged into the face of the horse happily. Narino was definitely surprised at that one, no-one was ever that close to king, he always seemed to be too far away from everyone, even Yuuka who had raised the stallion since it was a foal had never gotten a reaction from the horse like that. Narino gently stroked the face of queen after she finished feeding her and moved over to Naruto as he let go of king and allowed the horse to move from the stable to the small paddy on the side.

"Naruto how on earth are you able to hug king?" Narino asked completely unable to hide her curiosity and her raised eyebrow, but Naruto simply smiled at her in return as he explained.

"Yuuka-San said that if you wanted to be treated well by your animal allies you had to treat them appropriately, so I treated king and queen as their names imply, as king and queen. I used to bow before them and they did too but after a while they were not too bothered if I did or not" Naruto finished with a smile as he watched both of the horses run around the paddy happy that they had been fed. Narino had to applaud the child's use of ingenuity, keeping in mind that he was only a child and that mentality had helped him come to such conclusions but, that aside he had done a difficult feat even the owner of the horse could not accomplish.

"Naruto, why did you say that in the house?" Narino asked the boy eventually after they had watched the horses run around in silence.

"Was I being selfish Narino-San?" Naruto asked as his face suddenly became downcast and he found the floor interesting. She felt guilty instantly and knelt down to his level while placing both of her hands under his chin.

"No that is not it, it is just that saying such a thing brought back painful memories of … the past" Narino paused as she hoped the boy would not press further.

"Why what happened Narino-San?" Naruto asked as he lifted his face and stared directly into her eyes, with that look Narino almost felt the desire to tell Naruto everything about herself, the boy wanted to be as nice as possible.

"Well over ten years ago Yuuka and I had a son, we loved him dearly, Yuuka even more so, he was the apple of Yuuka's eye. Ten years ago though he was killed by some rogue ninja, Yuuka saw the whole thing happen. He still blames himself to this day for it, he still thinks he could have done more" Narino explained as Naruto stood still soaking up the information, almost looking as if he understood the situation perfectly. Narino was really beginning to like the boy, situation permitting she would happily take him in and protect him as a surrogate parent.

"So what I said made Yuuka get sad?" Naruto asked her with his own voice wavering on its pitch.

"How do you know he was sad, I said he was asleep" Narino answered as she raised her eyebrow.

"His eyes were open when I tried to look at his face again" Naruto explained as he placed his hands behind his back "I wont say that again, I'm sorry Narino-San. I will go and live with other parents if that's what you and Yuuka-San want" Naruto told her as he began to make his way out of the stables with his eyes facing the ground, he was stopped by something. He moved to walk around whatever the object was, guessing he had walked into a post or something. It was not until he felt himself lifting off the ground and found his face almost directly across from Yuuka's. the mans smile was back on his face as he looked at Naruto warmly.

"Don't call me Yuuka-san anymore Naruto, from now on it can be Dad" Yuuka said happily as he could see Naruto's face brighten up at the suggestion and leapt for Yuuka whilst still in the mans grip. Yuuka laughed at the action, he was going to look after this boy and he would make sure to do better this time, he would not fail this boy in any way shape or form.

Narino simply laughed at the show of affection between the two males and moved up to her husband and hugged her new 'son' before turning to face Yuuka.

"Remember and leave some spare love, Naruto is not the only one who will be calling you that soon enough" Narino said with a blush on her cheeks as she then looked down to her stomach. Yuuka's eyes widened at that and Naruto turned to look at Narino in surprise.

"What do you mean Narino-san?" Naruto asked happily as he turned to her, she was able to take Yuuka's adorable shocked face no longer and she crumbled.

"First of all Naruto, it's Mum now. Second of all I mean you are going to have a younger sibling soon enough" Narino told him and Yuuka simultaneously.

"When?" Yuuka asked unable to ask anymore than that single worded question.

"Well for both questions I know you're asking I am two months gone and I think that should mean seven months from now, if things go well" Narino answered her husband with a smile, his was replicated on his face as he turned and looked down to Naruto who was still in his arms.

"You gonna look after your younger brother or sister then Naruto?" Yuuka asked happily as the boy looked back to him with his own vibrant smile.

"Yeah! I'll be the best big brother anyone could ever want!" Naruto responded happily as he fist pumped the air, while still in Yuuka's grasp, the man simply laughed in all his happiness. He was a father of one, soon to be two children, and he was going to be sure that both of his children had the perfect lives. That was a promise he was going to make sure he kept, till his dying days.

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><p><em>Well here y'all go guys, I apologise for the shortness of this chapter, thanks to all you who have been reading this fic and I hope that you are enoying it as much as I am writing it, I will try to have another chapter out for tomorrow too =]. Tell me if there are any things you like or dislike or whatever, thank you =] - Varrukh<em>

_Also to Desphere, I will have to admit that I will be using a time skip in this story because I don't want to have it all when he is five years old but I will try my best in order to fill in the blanks before I make such an action, thank you for your in-depth review though =] _


	6. Chapter 6 Back to Konoha

_**2 years later **_

Yuuka sat with Naruto by his side on their cart as they made their way to their merchant village this time. Yuuka used to go through the villages in a circular motion, going through all five before returning home again and resting for a month or so, then the cycle continued, it had worked very well for him and he and his wife had managed to keep their marriage strong. One of the good things when you don't see your spouse very often, you cherish the time you do have together. However, since his latest child had been born he could not bear to be away from them for too long, he loved his child dearly and would never let anything happen to them _anything_.

He also had to think about Naruto too who hated being away from his younger sibling for too long too, he had definitely fit into the older brother role perfectly, neither Yuuka nor Narino had to worry about any jealousy from the now seven-year-old.

"Dad, what should we get Kyota?" Naruto asked Yuuka as he looked up to the man deep in thought.

"I don't know, what do you think?" Yuuka answered with one of his warm smiles that only Naruto, Narino or now his baby girl would ever see.

"Well I've never been to Konoha before so I'll see when I get there!" Naruto answered back enthusiastically.

Yuuka had been dreading this visit for a long time now. All of the other villages had been fine so far, no-one had ever treated Naruto badly at all and he had managed to get a gift for Kyota in each village respectively, his goal right now being to get her a gift from all of the five great villages. Yuuka had managed to put off his visit to Konoha for as long as he really could but demands for his wares were mounting and there were some things that he could only get in Konoha admittedly. So after a long time of putting it off he had decided he would have to face this village eventually, despite his great distaste and unwillingness to go there.

Naruto seemed to be almost excited about going to Konoha, that being simply that he did not remember what the village was. Yuuka had taken much time in order to think over what little information Naruto had given him about where he had come from. He never wanted to ask the boy about his past in case it upset him and Yuuka hardly ever enjoyed an upset Naruto because it upset him. However, going by what he had gathered then it was Konoha that had thrown Naruto out and Yuuka was going to make it his point to find out exactly why Naruto had been chased out of the village. The state he had found the boy in was less than pleasing and as being an orphan he should have at least had a modicum of better care taken over him.

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><p>As they neared the gates Yuuka could see no visible changes in Naruto, if anything the boy seemed eager to get into the village and explore the place. Yuuka had to both smile at that and worry about it too, the boy seemed to be happy and that was good but in his eagerness he may come face to face with a demon of his past and be forced into a difficult situation. Nonetheless he would give Naruto this chance to be eager about going into Konoha, he did not want to be the one who ruined something like this for the boy.<p>

Passing through the gates was nothing special neither as Yuuka was overly used to this, the gateway opened out into an open pathway. Continuing onwards until the path had to cross over one of the rivers running through Konoha, over that bridge was Yuuka's destination as after the bridge it was a short distance before he would reach the open square where he would set up shop. Naruto was still the same as he had been the entire journey here, with a big smile plastered across his whisker marked face.

Yuuka pulled his horse drawn cart into a nice area that was nestled right in the centre of the district, this would give him a better opportunity to be noticed by any customers. He pulled his cart into his space and leapt down, ready to prepare his stall. As was status quo by now Naruto had reached into the back of the cart and produced something for the horses to eat and drink and went about the business of making sure that they got the required amount to satiate their basic needs. Naruto went around the front of the cart and stood before king and queen, bowing gently he placed the water pale by the feet of the horses. Both horses lowered their heads simultaneously and moved them forwards, Naruto took the hint and hugged both of their faces each in one of his arms while laughing slightly.

"There you go king and queen, here is some food too" Naruto told them happily as he produced a carrot in each hand and presented it to the horses who took it gently from his hands. After quickly devouring the carrot both horses lowered their heads in order to drink the water.

Yuuka watched on in wonderment as Naruto performed something he never could, to get those horses to act closely to him. Of course they recognised him as their bearer and the one who raised them since they were foals, but that was the limit, they never let him hug their faces like they did Naruto. That didn't bother him though, they at least bonded with the boy, in fact many people had bonded with Naruto, in the last two years Naruto had made many different bonds. He had befriended the secluded son of the fourth Kazekage, they now both bore scars of that fateful night when that bond had been made. He had made friends with a bunch of people of all ages in the other four great Shinobi villages, he even managed to befriend a powerful Shinobi who Yuuka half expected to rob and kill them.

Yuuka laughed slightly and feigned hurt when he turned around slightly and looked at Naruto.

"How come king and queen treat you nicer than me huh?" Yuuka asked with his own version of the hurt pout.

"Because they like me more!" Naruto answered back as he laughed at Yuuka when his face became even more hurt.

"That's not fair! I raised them they should love me! Come here king and queen give daddy a hug!" Yuuka shouted to his horses who while he was shouting looked at him but once he was done and approached him turned away from him.

"Now that's just not fair!" Yuuka complained as he fell to his knees in mock hurt, Naruto came over to him as he knelt down on the ground. Naruto placed a hand on Yuuka's shoulder causing the man to look up again with his fake tears rolling down his face.

"I'll give you a hug if you want daddy" Naruto said to Yuuka happily as he lunged forwards and planted both himself and Yuuka onto the ground, Yuuka began to laugh as did Naruto as Yuuka began to tickle Naruto.

"STOP STOP, THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Naruto screamed through laughter as Yuuka continued his mindless tickle assault on his adopted son. Naruto kept on squirming until Yuuka eventually relented at seeing the tears coming out of Naruto's eyes, if ever Yuuka finally beat Naruto in tickles it was when those tears began to form.

Naruto lifted himself off of Yuuka and placed his hand out to help Yuuka up, Yuuka smiled at the intention and held his hand out and taking Naruto's. Naruto began to pull at Yuuka but could not dislodge him from the ground, after a few seconds of fighting with Yuuka's weight, Yuuka placed his other hand behind his back and pushed off the ground with just enough strength to stand up straight again. As he done this Naruto almost fell over but with Yuuka holding onto his hand he was saved meeting with the ground.

"Wow Naruto, you're getting strong you know that? Able to lift me up from the ground and everything" Yuuka commented and loved the way that Naruto's eyes sparkled at the comment.

Yuuka looked around his area now and found that there were other merchants beginning to start up shop, the few that were there before had smiled at the show they had been given by Naruto and Yuuka, finding it rather adorable. However eventually everyone went back to their business and awaited the villagers to come into the marketplace and buy their wares. Yuuka took his position behind his stall and Naruto took his usual position on the cart behind the stall, giving him his usual vantage point.

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><p>As people began to flock into the marketplace business began to pick up for Yuuka's stall, plenty of people wished to purchase his wares, of course who wouldn't he offered some of the rarest foods and drinks around, and from the sounds of demand of his stock he was definitely wanted here. This was showing as many people flocked to his stall and he actually required Naruto's aid for the first time since they had began to travel together to all of the different villages. Not that he was complaining, he was making one hell of a profit today and with Naruto's assistance he would make sure the boy was well rewarded. Two women walked up to the stall, one had long waving blonde hair whereas the other had somewhat shorter pinkish hair. They both had on casual wear clothes with the blonde haired woman wearing a golden tank-top and a pair of black trousers, the pink haired woman had on a slim red t-shirt and blue trousers that reached down to her shins. Both women looked at Yuuka warmly as he turned back to the front of his stall and noticed both women.<p>

"Ah! Yamanaka-san, Haruno-san! It has been a while" Yuuka said politely as both women giggled at the way he had addressed them.

"How many times must we tell you to call us by our first names? We are friends after all right?" the pink haired woman asked him pointedly as her right eyebrow lifted. Yuuka laughed gently at the way she acted towards him.

"Ah yes, my apologies Sachi and Laurel" Yuuka said as he looked at the pink haired woman and then the blonde haired one, each one smiling as he called them by their first names, "Now how can I help you ladies?" Yuuka asked kindly as he smiled at them both. The women looked at each other, that smile was definitely his selling point.

"Well I would like some of that glacir water please?" Sachi asked kindly as Yuuka nodded and then looked to Laurel who still seemed deep in thought.

"Well, Inoichi did ask for me to get some exotic meat for the next clan feast, what meats have you Yuuka?" Laurel asked him finally looking up at him. Yuuka had to think about that for a second, upon coming up with absolutely no idea he moved to his alternative.

"Hang on a sec" Yuuka said to both women politely before turning around to the direction of the cart. "Naruto!" Yuuka called out, seconds later Naruto's head popped up from the back of the cart and looked directly at Yuuka.

"Yes?" Naruto asked as he stood up straight again. Both women noticed the sudden appearance of the boy and were instantly interested, where had the boy come from, was he Yuuka's? they just had to ask him!

"What meats do we have?" Yuuka asked the boy while trying to get a look for himself, to no avail. Naruto looked around himself before finally coming across a crate that had ice in it and had the meats stored in it. It was a three piece kind of refrigerator. On each piece was the name of the type of meat found in each.

"We have venison, beef or mutton" Naruto responded eventually after finally forming the words in his head and coming to a better understanding of how to say them, turning to Yuuka with a smile on his face he also added in "I done it daddy, I'm getting better at reading!".

"Good boy Naruto, now go back to your nap" Yuuka finished with a laugh as Naruto's face became one of utmost surprise.

"How did you know I was asleep?" he asked stupefied.

"You took a while to respond to me, also you forget you have been with me for two years, surely you would think I'd know much about you by now?" Yuuka asked as he began to chuckle at Naruto who just simply shrugged and smiled.

"Call me if you need me dad" Naruto said before laying down on the cart again and almost instantly falling asleep.

"Will do" Yuuka answered as he turned around to the two women in front of him who looked almost ravenous, aw bugger.

"Which of the three meats would you like?" Yuuka asked trying to avoid the gleam in the women's eyes as they held in their desire for knowledge "Venison, Beef or Mutton?" Yuuka asked as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Spill" Laurel demanded almost immediately, not even caring about the meat anymore. Yuuka looked at her and then Sachi and knew he was not going to get rid of them if he didn't give them some information, he really should have done this by himself.

"Do I have to?" he asked already sounding defeated, with a smile still on his face, these women were both humorous in their own way, the way in which they chased gossip was rather comical, although useful if he wanted information he could always ask them nicely, or give them discounts.

"You know us by now and by that I think you should know the answer" Sachi responded for her friend with a smile on her face, she knew they were getting something at the least.

"Very well, what do you want to know?" Yuuka asked them both as he mentally prepared himself.

"Who is that kid? Is he yours? Where have you hidden him all this time? Is he why we haven't seen you lately?" Sachi asked in a very quick motion as Laurel slowly closed her mouth after losing her opportunity to ask those same questions, damn her quick mouthed friend.

"I guess I'll answer them in order then, before I do though, to save time what meat do you want?" Yuuka asked Laurel politely who after a second answered with "Venison please, Yuuka". Yuuka moved over to the cart to where the Glacir water was and picked up a crated that contained bottles that altogether contained a few pints of water.

"Well first of all he is Naruto, second of all he is not technically mine but I have been raising him, thirdly I only found him two years ago and gave him time to integrate into my family and fourth yes he is why you haven't seen me for so long" Yuuka answered as he had moved over to the three part container and removed the venison from it's container. He came across the peaceful face of Naruto and remembered that day almost two years ago when he found Naruto. Both women noticed how his posture changed as he looked down at the boy, it was almost as if he was in pain.

"You know, I first found Naruto two years ago, he was a small boy who was just lying in the middle of the road when I found him, he was distraught and alone in the world, he thought everyone hated him and was afraid of even me when he first met me" Yuuka said this in a very soft tone, he then began to move away from Naruto and back towards both women who had been listening intently to what Yuuka was saying, the man was good at giving away only enough information to keep them pleased, but if he was going on it meant there was some deep meaning behind these extra words.

"He is a boy who has much love to give the world, but was shackled in by those he used to live near, I have seen him perform feats and create bonds I would have and indeed have found hard to do. I have taken him in as my adoptive son at his request and will not allow any more pain to harm him any longer, so long as I draw breath I will see that he is happy" Yuuka finished as he reached the front of the stall where both women stood silently, respectively waiting, allowing Yuuka the chance to continue if he wanted to. Sometimes talking things out made things better of course.

"Is that all ladies?" Yuuka asked politely as his smile found it's way back onto his face, both women brethed an unoticable sigh of relief as they realised Yuuka's 'rant' was over.

"Could I please get some wrapping for the meat Yuuka?" Laurel asked kindly as Yuuka nodded and reached behind him and produced brown wrapping paper, wrapping the venison in it he tenderly handed it over to Laurel who smiled as he handed it over.

"Will you be able to carry that water Sachi?" Yuuka asked slightly jokingly, of course she would she was a strong woman, stronger than many men liked to admit. His response was a look from the woman that told him the she was going to show huim just how much help she needed.

"Thank you for telling us more than you had to Yuuka, we both know how deeply this has affected you if you have told us as much" Laurel said to the merchant as he looked to both of them and smiled slightly.

"I have known both of you and your husbands for a long time, of course I'd feel comfortable telling you as much. Say hello to Inoichi and Kane for me would you, oh and your daughters too" Yuuka said happily as both women smiled to him and turned away, not before looking at him and answering with a "Will do".

Yuuka sighed, that had definitely taken a lot out of him. Revealing as much was not something he done much, it was only usually his wife and those four other people that he ever delved that much information to, even then it took a lot to say it all to them without feeling surprisingly physically affected. Yuuka looked up to the sky, trying to dictate what time it was from the placement of the sun, given that Naruto had become tired and was napping around this time that meant it had to be before noon. After noon Naruto would wake up and be full of energy, it was strange but it was the way the boy worked, it would also be helpful as it would mean the feeling of physical fatigue on Yuuka might be lightened. Looking back down to the marketplace Yuuka prepared to try and stay on his feet for just a little while longer.

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><p>"Say Sachi, I'm a little worried about Yuuka, he seemed almost forcing his smile by the time we left" Laurel pointed out to her friend as Sachi looked at her with a worried glance.<p>

"I know, something happened to that boy and it is tormenting Yuuka, you know how bad he was after losing his son, and even before that, he always hated children in distress" Sachi pointed out as they continued onwards.

"Maybe we should get Inoichi or Kane to talk to him, he always opened up better with them?" Laurel asked as she stopped just outside of her house.

"I don't know, maybe. In fact, we will talk to them tonight and we will all go to see him tomorrow, how does that sound, he might be happy to see all of us, we'll take Sakura and Ino with us" Sachi told her best friend as she looked to her with determination burning in here eyes.

"Okay, I will talk to Inoichi about it tonight, goodbye Sachi" Laurel said to her friend with a slight wave and a smile.

"Yeah, bye" Sachi answered as she only smiled, capable of only doing that due to the crate in her hands. Laurel smiled one last time before walking into her home and leaving Sachi to walk the small distance to her own home.

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><p>The end of the day was really not coming fast enough for Yuuka, Naruto had woken up and helped to lighten the load for Yuuka but he still felt fatigued. He had managed to sell off the majority of his wares by now, his stock was in suc a high demand that by now the only things he really had left was some beef, some fruits and some assorted drinks that were being purchased right now by an old gentleman.<p>

"There you go sir, have a nice day" Yuuka said kindly as the man took the bottle and began on his way home.

"Thank you young man" he said as he made his way off home. Yuuka smiled, turning around to Naruto he also looked at his cart which was almost basically empty now, what was left he might as well take for himself. There were at least two apples left and barely even a quarter of the original amount of beef they had come here with. Yuuka looked to Naruto and smiled as the boy looked at him with amazement.

"Wow, look dad we managed to sell everything in just one day, I can get Kyota's gift quicker this time and go home and see her quicker too!" Naruto said happily as he began walking towards Yuuka.

"Wait a second Naruto, pick up the beef and those two apples for me?" Yuuka asked the boy and he complied. As he reached Yuuka he held out both items.

"Right, you keep one apple and eat it, that is part one of your reward for your help today, with this beef we will help to get part tow" Yuuka said to the boy as they both began to eat their respective apples.

Yuuka moved his cart out of the prime spot in the marketplace and across the square out of the way of anyone else in the area. He lead both king and queen into the provided stables and left them a carrot each, which they quickly took from his hands, almost taking his fingers. 'gotta find out how Naruto gets them to take food nicely' Yuuka thought to himself. After making sure both horses were happy he handed Naruto the meat in it's packaging, the boy was momentarily confused before Yuuka lifted him up and placed him on his shoulders.

"Where are we going dad?" Naruto asked as he leaned around the back of Yuuka's head towards his right ear. Yuuka turned slightly to regar Naruto.

"That's a surprise" he told the boy happily as Naruto pouted slightly and crossed his arms, "You're just jealous because I won the tickle fight this morning" Naruto said to himself.

"That's not it Naruto" Yuuka said as he chuckled at the childish display, "Anyway we are here now, so, Surprise!" Yuuka said still chuckling as Naruto turned to look at the place.

"Ichiraku's Ramen?" Naruto asked slowly, he had never tried ramen before.

"Trust me Naruto, you'll love it" Yuuka said fondly as he knelt into the small bar, careful not to hit Naruto's head. He was met with a man and a teenage girl behind the counter standing rather idly, waiting for customers. At seeing Yuuka both appeared more interested and moved around more.

"Ah Yuuka-san, it's nice to see you again!" Teuchi said to Yuuka happily upon seeing him.

"Same here Teuchi-san, it has been a while hasn't it?" Yuuka asked sheepishly as he went to rub the back of his head and almost knocked Naruto off his shoulders. Quickly dropping to a kneeling position and stopping Naruto from falling Yuuka breathed a sigh of relief, that was close. Naruto climbed off him sheepishly and jumped onto one of the stools as Yuuka stood up again and joined him.

"What will it be then?" Teuchi asked kindly looking at both Yuuka and Naruto.

"Give us both beef ramen please?" Yuuka asked the older man nicely, when Teuchi looked to Naruto he simply nodded in agreement and Teuchi turned back to Yuuka.

"Have you got the ingredients or is it all by me?" Teuchi asked Yuuka as he was about to turn and make the ramen.

"I have the beef, Naruto if you please" Yuuka asked kindly as Naruto nodded again and placed the beef onto the counter where Ayame took it and smiled at Naruto before turning and began to make the ramen.

After a few moments the ramen was finished and ready for eating, both bowls were placed down in front of the respective customers. Naruto looked at the liquid before him for a few moments before tasting it, upon doing so he almost fell in love and began ingesting the entire bowl, even tipping it to make sure he got all of the juices out of it. Teuchi looked at the display warmly.

"I thank you for enjoying my food as much" Teuchi said happily as Naruto then smiled at him finally.

"Than you Teuchi-san! That was delicious" Naruto answered back as Teuchi smiled and chuckled slightly.

"That is no problem young man!" Teuchi replied while Ayame stood by her father's side now with a satisfied smile on her face.

"Say Teuchi-san, why haven't you asked anything about Naruto?" Yuuka asked in interest, he expected the man to ask about his little friend just like Sachi and Laurel had done.

"If either of you wish to tell me then you will, that's the way I usually get told things" Teuchi answered kindly as Yuuka raised his eyebrow in surprise. Why did he ask that? Of course Teuchi would say that he was one of the most respectable men that Yuuka knew, his daughter was also fast becoming like her father in that respect. A yawn from Naruto indicated to Yuuka what time it was and after looking outside he could see that night had indeed fell over the village of Konoha.

"Someone needs their bed by the looks of it" Ayame pointed out lightly, Yuuka pulled a face at that and replied with.

"I don't know why, he sleeps so much its unbelievable, right enough when he is awake he has stamina that I never had as a kid" Yuuka said with a laugh in his reply, "Well thank you for the food, here is your money Teuchi, keep the change as always and I will see you some other time" Yuuka said as Teuchi nodded happily and Ayame smiled broadly.

Yuuka then lifted Naruto into his arms and made his way over to the hotel he usually went to whenever in Konoha. He walked into the main hallway and the man at the till, once he seen Yuuka nodded to him and indicated for Yuuka to follow him, the man knew exactly what Yuuka needed and provided it. Yuuka thanked the man and gave him a nice tip, he placed Naruto down on the closest bed and smiled at the boy.

"Looks like I may have been wrong about this place, I thought It was here that you had been chased out of, maybe I was wrong after all and I was afraid for nothing" Yuuka said to himself as he leaned down and gave Naruto a kiss on the forehead "Night, son"

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><p>"What name did you say Laurel?" Inoichi asked, suddenly changing in appearance from his usually calm and collected composure to one of fright and concern.<p>

"Yuuka? Come on you can have possibly forgotten him, he was at our wedding!" Laurel complained but Inoichi raised a hand and stopped her.

"No the other name" Inoichi said slowly as he thanked whatever deity out there that Ino didn't have to hear anything about this.

"Naruto?" Laurel asked confused, "But he is just a small and adorable boy that Yuuka has adopted" Laurel answered him evenly as Inoichi's eyes widened in surprise.

"You don't remember Naruto do you?" Inoichi asked his wife dreading what he was going to have to reveal to her.

"No. why should I have?" Laurel asked in defence as she looked at her husband.

"Yes, you should remember, if this is the right Naruto then things can go horribly wrong in the village. I must go and warn the Hokage" Inoichi said as he stood up from the table.

"What about dinner?" Laurel asked as he began to walk out of the house, quickly putting on his Jounin vest.

"Put it in the fridge and I'll finish it when I come home" Inoichi answered as he closed the door behind him.

Inoichi did not get far before he was joined by an other man, turning to his right a man with short red hair caught up with him, he wore the normal ninja attire except for his left arm that had an armoured guard over it.

"You get told from Sachi, Kane?" Inoichi asked already knowing the answer.

"Yes, if this is indeed true then we must warn the Hokage and try to keep it from the council as long as possible" Kane answered as they reached the bottom of the Hokage tower. Both men stood at the bottom of it for a few seconds before moving up the steps towards the Hokage's office.

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><p><em>I did say I'd get one out for you today, although technically with me right now it is Sunday, but anyway. Here is the next chapter I hope that you enjoy it, i made it longer to make up for the last chapter that was shorter than usual, I hope that you will look forward to the next instalment. As always if you could drop a review that would be excellent, thank you - Varrukh<em>


	7. Chapter 7 Mysteries Revealed

_Let me say right now that I apologise for any technical accuracies that you can pick out, I will change them once I fully complete the story._

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><p>"Hokage-sama!" Kane shouted as he burst through the door, quickly followed by Inoichi who almost tripped over his own feet. The Hokage looked up at them with mild annoyance before he sighed.<p>

"Right, what's the problem?" Hiruzen asked the two ninja's who had just so casually broken into his office, honestly they could have knocked at least.

"Sir, Uzumaki Naruto is in the village" Kane blurted out quickly, Inoichi looked at his friend in mock shock, honestly, could he not at least have waited maybe a second, allow the tension to grow and then tell the Hokage? Although with the look the Hokage had taken he could tell that any delay may have been a mistake.

"Where?" Hiruzen asked almost in a growl as he lifted himself from his seat and stood on the floor. Inoichi and kane were almost scared for their lives, it had been a while since they had seen Hiruzen with that look in his eyes, it was the same look he had when he had told the entire village what they had done to Naruto.

"Our wives just told us that he was in the marketplace" Inoichi explained as Hiruzen raised his eyebrow, not content with the answer, there was no reason for Naruto to be in the marketplace by himself.

"He obviously wasn't there by himself, he would have been found and surely recognised, in fact I'm surprised no-one did recognise him. Honestly the people of this village surprise me to no end, they abuse that boy till he is forced to run and forget about him" Hiruzen said as his anger increased "Now who was with Naruto?" Hiruzen asked as he raised his head and kane and Inoichi were given the full power of the 'glare'. later to be perfected by Yamato.

"He was with a merchant, as far as we know" Kane said vaguely as he shrunk away from the look of the Hokage, Inoichi was under the thoughts of following in suit of his friend, the Hokage was scary when he got like this.

"Is it one that we know?" Hiruzen asked as he advanced upon both of the men, clearly tuned in to their sudden terror of him.

"I don't know I didn't catch the name " Kane answered lamely as he continued his trail backwards and towards the door, suddenly a safe haven.

"I believe you did and you are not telling me, now what could possibly have two of my most loyal Shinobi lying to me I wonder?" Hiruzen asked as his face became even darker as Kane and Inoichi found themselves at the closed door, knew they shouldn't have closed the door behind them. they knew it was a touchy subject, why not leave an escape route?

"Why would we keep such information from you?" Inoichi asked with a small chuckle as Hiruzen turned his gaze over to the blonde haired man. Before he could utter a word he was interrupted.

"Because it is one of our secrets perhaps?" came a voice from behind the Hokage. That voice was easily recognisable, but Hiruzen had not heard it in a long time. Inoichi and Kane visibly sighed in relief as the Hokage moved his gaze from them and to the newcomer, and if neither of them were mistaken, he looked visibly worried. The voice had come from one of the windows behind the desk of the Hokage, upon looking the window was opened wide and a figure squatted by the window in almost relaxed poise.

"Now then, you will tell me everything…" the voice of the man began as he stepped into the room and walked towards them and coming into the light, all men were faced with the deadly serious face of Yuuka "… about Naruto, wont you?" Yuuka added on as his voice took on an almost sinister pitch. The three Shinobi looked at each other nervously, that voice held anger in it but also a form of threat that even the Hokage recognised.

"What do you want to know Yuuka?" the Hokage asked in complete defeat, no matter how long Yuuka had been there he was bound to have heard enough and judging by the way he acted, he had heard just enough. Yuuka cocked his head to the left causing his black hair to fall to it's side slightly.

"Why everything of course, I'd prefer to know exactly why I found that boy ten miles from here, completely exhausted and without much of a desire to be around people" Yuuka answered with a dangerous tone.

"He was ten miles out?" Hiruzen asked completely surprised by the stamina of the boy, especially at such a young age.

"Yes, ten miles out, exhausted and alone" Yuuka told him as his face underwent another change and he looked annoyed now.

"Which by the way explain to me, why was such a well-mannered and polite young boy chased out of this village? I can see no good reason why such an occurrence took place, in that frame of mind I have half a mind to simply walk through this village and kill all of you" Yuuka said dangerously as his face became almost evil, even Hiruzen became frightened at this threat.

"Wait! I will tell you if you do not commit such an atrocity" Hiruzen tried to reason, Yuuka seemed to agree as he lifted his head and assumed a much less aggressive stance.

"Go on" Yuuka mentioned as the Hokage sighed heavily.

"Yuuka, you really have changed" Hiruzen noted sadly as he thought about this aggressive Yuuka.

"That is not what we are here to discuss, maybe at a later time" Yuuka reprimanded him "Now, if you please"

"Right you know that over seven years ago the Kyuubi attacked this village and destroyed much of it? And as Hokage Minato Namikaze went out to face off against this beast" Hiruzen began to explain, after Yuuka's nod he continued on. "Ultimately though Minato could not defeat the Kyuubi and in stead he and his wife sealed it within a newborn child, their newborn child"

"Minato had a wife?" Yuuka asked in surprise "and he had a child? I never heard anything of this" Yuuka said quickly as Hiruzen looked at him quietly "Sorry, continue"

"Well, during the sealing both of them unfortunately died in order to protect their newborn baby. The child was forced to grow up by themselves without any knowledge of his family" Hiruzen said after finally realising his vocal error he watched as Yuuka's expression began to darken again.

"It was Naruto wasn't it?" Yuuka asked as his voice became dangerous again, Hiruzen lowered his head in defeat.

"Yes"

"So Naruto has the Nine-Tailed demon fox inside of him, who looked after him then?" Yuuka demanded looking between the three Shinobi, at noticing their eyes all falling to their feet he felt his rage creeping up again.

"You are joking me! No-one looked after that boy? He was alone and scared when I met him! He was only five years old, alone and scared! Are you telling me that none of the three of you tried anything to alleviate the boy's suffering? He is carrying one of the worst curses imaginable in this world and you all left him to live by himself, to scrape out a living by himself! I am disgusted by all of you! I feel ashamed to have ever called this place my home!" Yuuka shouted at all of these men with a fury he had not unleashed for many years now. After his furious rage at all of the men present he turned towards the window he had entered from and walked over to it. He turned to look at all three of the men before he leapt up onto the windowsill.

"I will do what you three should have done, Naruto is my son by adoption now. I will bring him up the way that Minato would have wanted, not this way that you forced upon him" Yuuka said dangerously as he turned to leave. The Hokage was however not prepared to let Yuuka get away yet.

"Shadow Imitation Jutsu!" Hiruzen called out as his shadow extended and grabbed onto Yuuka's shadow. "you are not leaving here with that killing intent in your body, as Hokage I have a responsibility for my village and I will not allow you to hurt anyone.

"You may be right Hokage-sama, I want to kill everyone in this village right now, but I have a son wife and a baby girl I have to provide for, so mass genocide and prison time are not high on my list right now, if you please let go and I will leave peacefully" Yuuka explained as the Hokage had to admit the sense in his logic and released the technique.

"I shall stay in this wretched hive for one last night, tomorrow me and Naruto shall leave here, do not expect us to return for a long time, if ever" Yuuka said to the three man group as he turned to the outside of the building and leapt down towards the ground, executing a somersault and landing on his feet, slightly crouched. He then made his way back into the village and towards his waiting hotel.

* * *

><p>"Well that could have went better" Kane noted off handedly, before realising he had spoken in such a way and raised his arms to protect himself, an angry Hiruzen was a scary sight. After a few moments though nothing happened and he lowered his arms to see Inoichi standing still and the Hokage looked almost as if he were unable to move with his back to both men.<p>

"I wish it had, I truly wish that it had" Hiruzen said sadly as he turned to the two Shin obi "As his friends both of you should definitely know that this village has made a dangerous enemy out of Yuuka now, even I as Hokage recognise the power of that statement" Hiruzen finished as his form slumped over as if completely exhausted. He began to sway and just in time Inoichi moved over to him and grabbed him by his shoulders from behind.

"Thank you Inoichi-san" Hiruzen said with the clearest sense of gratitude in his voice.

"Are you ok Sarutobi-sensei?" Kane asked curiously as the elder gentleman was helped into his seat at his desk.

"No Kane-san, I feel like a failure both to this village and it's previous Hokage" Hiruzen said in final defeat. Inoichi and Kane shared a look of surprise, the Hokage was never a man to show himself to be weak before, yet now he looked simply frail.

* * *

><p>Yuuka entered the hotel room not too long after leaving the Hokage's office. He was utterly disgusted with this place now, every person that he passed on the way back made him feel sick about even breathing the same air as them. These people who had caused Naruto such pain were happily going about their lives as if nothing had ever happened, Yuuka hated every one of these people as he walked by them. Things were only made harder as in the evening caress, people were out in moderate numbers and unfortunately for him, due to his profession many of them knew him and smiled to him while saying hello. He hated having to be so damn civil to people who he would right now, much more prefer to just simply annihilate.<p>

The people began to thin out and Yuuka found he had more room to move about in and much less people were coming up to him and attempting to talk to him at all. He had breathing space now and his rage educed state was beginning to lessen. He really did hate getting angry, if he got angry then afterwards he felt a heightened sense of sadness and disappointment in himself afterwards. His anger had already caused him pain in the past and ever since then he had tried his utmost best in order to keep events from reoccurring.

He neared the hotel and once he moved into the front entrance his anger had all but faded, he had mastered the art of calming himself down in the last en years. He needed to though, it was for the sake of his two new children. Naruto needed a father figure who would not be quick to anger and would not end up in trouble because of this anger. And Kyota, she was his baby girl and he was not going to leave her ever again if he could help it. His baby girl needed her daddy and he was not going to jeopardise that for anyone. His love for his children had grown over the last two years and he was not going to lose it again.

The women who now stood at the reception smiled at him as he entered, Yuuka returned the smile if just a little but disgusted. She was one of the villagers who had tormented Naruto, he may not be angry anymore but it would take a significant amount of time before he or Naruto were back in this village, he was just glad that no-one recognised him and he didn't recognize any of them. Otherwise Yuuka was sure that there would have been some very teary moments with the boy, and he really did not like it when Naruto was sad, it affected him too and made him sad. He made his way through the hotel corridors to his room that he shared with Naruto. The corridor itself was dark as he approached the room, although he expected this because his adventures from the Hokage tower had taken longer than he had expected and it was dark now. Opening the door to his and Naruto's room Yuuka walked in without a second thought. He looked over to the counter, already aware of where the kettle was in the room walked over to it and switched it on, having already filled it with water.

His eyes quickly accustomed to the darkness, one of the perks of being out of a village and living on a small farm in the countryside. He walked further into the room and threw his coat onto his bed. He then heard the slightest of movements out his left ear. His head snapped in that direction instantly and in the darkness he made out a figure that was hiding up against the far off wall, he had tried to blend in with the darkness. The person was garbed in complete black uniform and had a mask across his face, with a small sword released, looking like it had been cut cleanly in two halfway down the blade's length. The person realised that Yuuka's eyes had caught him and leapt from his standing position. His small sword had came closer to Naruto's neck, just as it was about to touch skin a clang could be heard and the sword was deflected away harshly. The black clad man looked in the direction of his swords final path. He saw a kunai embedded into the wall the last arcs of lightning dancing off it as they eventually died down too.

"Who are you and why are you trying to harm my son?" Yuuka asked the man dangerously as he stood facing the man side on, he had not even moved an inch but the man felt the force of that kunai hitting his sword and had struggled to stay on his feet as he took the hit. Without any reply Yuuka growled lowly, he would prefer not to wake up Naruto. The man did not take his eyes off of Yuuka.

Yuuka could not shake the feeling that he was being studied, as if he were some type of experiment or something.

"Believe me when I say this, I do not wish to do this, but for the safety of Konoha and it's peace, I must" the voice behind the mask said evenly as he retracted his sword and re-sheathed it. Yuuka watched the slow actions carefully, looking for some kind of distraction to let him go in and get Naruto quickly. The man betrayed no chances for Yuuka to take advantage of and he found himself becoming desperate, the man was closer to Naruto than he was and it was becoming painfully obvious that the man could easily take Naruto's life from Yuuka, he was in a sense playing with Yuuka.

The man reached down for Naruto and Yuuka could not contain himself any longer, with a roar he charged at the man and grabbed onto the arm that had extended to touch Naruto.

"Huh, that's just what I wanted you to do" the masked man said still evenly, he brought his other hand around his body and slammed his fist into the wrist of Yuuka, with an audible snap Yuuka screamed in pain. He brought his other hand around to nurse his broken wrist, falling to his knees Yuuka continued to groan in agony as the man walked around his back. Yuuka could hear metal moving against leather and could tell the sword had been taken back out.

"I will give you a death fitting of your past" the man said simply as he raised the sword high.

Time slowed for Yuuka, he looked up to the bed and in his horror saw Naruto had awoken and was watching, the tears were already on his face. Yuuka could not die here, he was needed and no-one was going to stop him, NO-ONE! Yuuka twisted to his left and sent his left foot crashing out and caught the man in his ankle. Releasing his damaged hand momentarily Yuuka dove at the man's mask with his right fist. He grimaced in pain as his arm flopped to the ground and closed his eyes, this was all the masked man required as he rolled out of the way. Yuuka's fist connected with the ground and caused a crack in the floor to form, where small arcs of lightning began dancing over his fingers.

The masked man rolled over and leapt onto his feet elegantly, while Yuuka cradled his left wrist again and got up first with his right knee still on the ground then eventually both feet supporting his weight. There was no more talking, tha masked man looked at the way Yuuka stood, he had achieved what he aimed for, he was now in between the man and Naruto. The small boy had been silent which was surprising for Yuuka but he had not the time to think on these matters as the man came forwards again. The man aimed a right punch to Yuuka's face that he was forced to dodge with a duck, unable to use either arm to deflect the blow. In his current position however he was unprepared for the knee that came up to greet his chin and sent his body straight again.

The man stopped for a moment surprised that Yuuka had been able to stand in that position again. He had expected Yuuka to have taken flight, then he would have clear passage to Naruto. Yuuka smiled at the delay of the man to which he received a harsh kick right to the right hand side of his ribs, he groaned out in pain but did not move an inch.

"For a merchant, you are exceedingly difficult to bargain with, you wont save your life in exchange for his death?" the masked man asked Yuuka seriously, Yuuka's expression did not change in stead he looked at the man as if he were an idiot.

"What kind of father would leave their child with that kind of offer?" Yuuka asked seriously as he dropped his left hand and felt no pain from it any longer, he then moved his hand up to his face level and began moving his fingers and wrist in general, getting all the kinks out of the joint. Yuuka looked at his hand "Still a bit stiff but it'll have to do for now" Yuuka intoned to himself.

He spread his legs evenly and lowered himself down slightly, he spread his arms out and had his hands in a clawed position.

"Now, I have two suggestions for you, you can either die here for threatening my son, or wait until morning when I plan to leave here with him anyway. Option two also allows you to keep peace in Konoha as no-one at all wil get anymore hurt and no-one needs know of this" Yuuka reasoned as he prepared himself for any and all outcomes. He glanced sideways at Naruto but could not get a clear image of the boy.

"Peace can only come from the death of that boy, I already tried once before, this time I shall not fail" the man said simply, Yuuka felt his anger brimming again and was ready to move in order to throttle the man but was beaten to it as red chakra rushed around his left side and suddenly the man was pinned up against the wall by a small clawed hand. Yuuka traced the hand back to Naruto, he was even standing on the mans chest just o make sure he reached the throat.

The sight before him worried Yuuka, was this the power of the Kyuubi? Was this the power that Naruto's curse gave him? The man took a dig to the stomach of the young boy and caused the small body to fall to the ground. Yuuka moved, angered by the sudden attack on his boy. He was however stopped when a powerful voice filled the room and from the mouth of his son no less.

"No Alpha male! Stay out of the way, he injured the boy and I want to have the pleasure of killing him" the voice talked viciously yet sensually at the same time, if that even made any sense. Yuuka felt almost compelled into obeying the powerful voice, despite the fact it came from his seven-year-old son.

Naruto picked himself up from the ground and stayed in a low position, red chakra began to coat his being and as it reached his head it shaped into long ears while at the back end it formed into one solitary tail of pure chakra. Naruto's whisker marks became deeper as his canines elongated and made him look even more feral, the finishing touch was applied when he lifted his head to reveal cerulean blue eyes that had been replaced by blood red eyes with the animalistic slit as a pupil. Naruto growled in an inhuman way and the masked man began to move his hands, creating signs "Doton: Barricading wall!" he yelled as the floor around Naruto rose up in four walls in order to encase Naruto completely, the boy however leapt over the front wall as it quickly rose and made his way over to the man again.

"Katon: Great Flaming Ball!" the man called out without the aid of the signs and swishing his right hand caused an arc of fire to clamber towards Naruto. The boy however stopped and crossing both of his arms allowed the fire to collide with his arms. The smell of burning skin filled the room.

As the attack ended Naruto stood in the same position, with badly burned arms, the man smirked at his handy work, he knew he would need ninjutsu this time around, exactly why he had been training with it. Right before his eyes however the burns on Naruto's arms quickly cauterized and healed over and Naruto lowered his arms a large smile on his now twisted face.

"Petty human, with me in this body, you have no hope of harming this child" Naruto said with that same powerful and sensual voice.

"You talk as if you are a great thing boy, do not get ahead of yourself" the man warned as he began signing for yet another jutsu.

"I am a great being fool, I am the Kyubi no Kitsune, and after hurting this boy, I feel I have the need to kill you" Naruto said quickly as the red chakra thickened and a second tail formed behind Naruto's back, he jumped into the air and within seconds was before the man again, he was unable to finish signing for his jutsu.

"DIE! Naruto screamed as he drove his fist into the back of one of the man's hands that he had brought up to defend his face. The force behind Naruto's attack however held more than the man expected and his face was still hurt, with the added point that both of his hand were now basically crushed his head felt like it had been destroyed. The man fell to the ground as his mask crumbled from the sheer force of the impact. The man fell to the ground and Yuuka was more than sure that the man was dead, the blood that was beginning to ooze out onto the carpet was testament to that fact.

"Naruto?" Yuuka asked cautiously, to which the chakra ear of Naruto perked up and the boy turned around.

"Sorry but I am not the boy, I wish I could explain but the boy is becoming exhausted with my presence so I must depart. I will explain some other time, if you wait" Naruto said in that same voice before the red chakra disappeared and Naruto fell to the ground back in his normal state. His breathing was heavy and his forehead was soaking with sweat, but after some emergency checkups Yuuka determined that he was healthy and in no immediate danger. He hugged into his son in relief at that, completely forgetting about the events that had just transpired, all he cared about was the fact that Naruto was safe. He hugged into the sleeping boy tightly as he felt tears slowly running down his face. This was just too scary for him.

* * *

><p>There was a chakra spike within the village, a familiar one only seven years ago they had felt before. Hiruzen's head shot up and looked to both men in his room, they were already on high alert. The already knew what had happened and looked to the Hokage questioningly, asking him what was their next course of action. Hiruzen nodded his head and both men knew instantly what to do, both men leaped out of the window Yuuka had recently vacate. Hiruzen followed after them quickly and they raced to the position of the chakra spike in a reverse arrow head formation.<p>

"We must prevent any more accidents caused in this village" the Hokage commanded to the two ninja as they both nodded their heads and resumed their speed towards the chakra source.

* * *

><p><em>Well here you guys go, another chapter for you to enjoy = or I hope that you enjoy it at least =] like I said before I apologise for any technicalities I may have created in this story, I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I liked writing it up =] - Varrukh<em>


	8. Chapter 8 Mysteries Revealed II

Naruto's breathing eventually levelled out. Yuuka held on to his son tightly, afraid that if he was ever to let go of the boy he might lose him. No, this place was too dangerous. He could not allow Naruto to stay in this village any longer than he needed to. Right now though, he could not move the small form, even if he did not show any signs of it, Yuuka did not doubt that Naruto's physical body was feeling the strain of what he had just been through. Yuuka could still not believe that Naruto was the container for the Nine-Tails. The poor boy was carrying one of the worst burdens he could ever have thought imaginable, for any person. Naruto was stuck with this creature for the rest of his natural life, and there was no way that he could be rid of the creature without losing his life.

Yuuka continued to hold Naruto, in this position his back was to the door in the room. He heard the sound of the door opening and the sudden light of the hallway creeping in as three figures moved into the room. Yuuka was aware of all their movements, having closed his eyes and heightened his sense in hearing. As they neared him Yuuka grabbed on to Naruto and stood up straight. The three figures slowed as Yuuka stood up to his full height with Naruto still in his arms. He slowly turned to the three invading figures, his left and arguable weaker left hand dropped to his side, his stiff fingers moved into the clawed position. Yuuka supported Naruto's full weight on his right hand and arm, resting him in the crook between his shoulder and hand. His head finally lifted to look at the three who had come to finish them, he doubted that something like this would be left to one singular Shinobi.

Yuuka's face betrayed pain and fear, but not of them. This they all came to realise very quickly as they saw the way that Yuuka was positioned and how he held Naruto. There were streaks down his face where not long before tears had taken place. Right now though he was prepared, he was ready to fight them all to the death.

"Yuuka?" came a voice he had heard no more than fifteen minutes ago. Aforementioned man turned to look at the owner of the voice, his eyes accustoming to Hiruzen's face in the darkness.

"Yuuka? What has happened?" Hiruzen asked with his voice ringing with worry as he looked at the sleeping form of Naruto. Yuuka did not answer, as Hiruzen went to take a step forward Yuuka dropped down slightly and prepared to fight. Hiruzen was taken by surprise, never in all of the time he had known Yuuka had the man ever been prepared to fight him.

"What is wrong Yuuka?" Hiruzen re-iterated, making sure that he stood still this time, Inoichi and Kane moved up to the Hokage's side. Still Yuuka stayed silent as he just waited for the three men to attack him. He was on edge, they could all see this, the way his body was tensed and the way he held himself. He was tired but unwilling to give ground, this was a man who was prepared to take unbelievable amounts of pain in order to protect his son.

Kane looked to his left and found the switch to the room's light and moved the switch down in order to ring light into the room. The room lit up and revealed the scene of the disturbance that they had all felt earlier. At the foot of the bed there were four wall-like structures poking out, the ones furthest from the bed broken. Coming out slightly from under the closest wall was a cracked floor, indicating blunt force applied to the ground. The fabrics upon the bed were singed and in a teardrop formation on the ground there was blackness indicating burning. What drew their eyes away from Yuuka and Naruto though was the body that lay on the floor, with a small trail of blood oozing it's way out from the body. Yuuka watched their eyes and sighed.

"You're not going to let me leave now are you?" Yuuka said in an almost defeated way, his posture never moving once.

"I cant allow you to leave after killing someone, you know that surely" Hiruzen said as he looked at Yuuka apologetically.

"Yes, I do" Yuuka said slowly "I would only gladly do my prison sentence, were it not for my family being under pressure if I did" Yuuka admitted as he felt his body weaken.

"Yuuka…" Inoichi began as he took a step forward but was stopped by Kane with his outstretched hand, Inoichi looked at his friend to see Kane shaking his head and telling him to look at the Hokage. Inoichi done as asked and looked, finding Hiruzen in a position that would indicate he was thinking. Yuuka's left arm fell to his side, despite him willing it to stay in position, his whole body was still feeling tired. Such a long cart ride and then having to fight that Shinobi had really drained him.

Hiruzen did not miss the way that Yuuka's body had lost much of it's strain and that it had relaxed. He could tell from the look on Yuuka's face that he did not want his body to act in such a way.

"Yuuka, you can't fight any longer, even if you could get past the three of us, you would not be able to get out of the village" Hiruzen pointed out to the exhausted man as he was forced to come with terms with the fact that the Hokage was right.

"I do not want to hurt you, I cared about you before and still do Yuuka, and I feel that I have failed Naruto enough" Hiruzen continued as he stepped over to Yuuka, the man fell to his knees while holding onto Naruto strongly. Hiruzen placed his hand onto Yuuka's shoulder.

"Let us talk and resolve these issues, if not for your sake then for the sake of your family" Hiruzen implored. Yuuka's head dropped in defeat, his hair covering his face. A painfully long amount of time passed in discomfort as Yuuka did not move nor make any noise. He simply held on to Naruto tightly. After a small amount of time waiting finally Yuuka looked up from the ground directly at the three Shinobi.

"I cannot allow Naruto to be left on his own, not again, I became his dad when no-one would take him in. I cannot let my wife live in agony, not again. I will not let my girl grow up not knowing who her daddy is. I refuse! My family needs me! I cant - I cant…" Yuuka trailed off after he could no longer talk anymore, his voice hitching as he tried to continue. Then what he did not want to happen, did. His body was wracked by sobs, the tears began to fall down his face in torrents and collide with the ground.

The three men were taken aback by the sudden show of weakness, they had never seen Yuuka like this before. He had stared down beasts of the forest in the past, he had fought with people he should have almost surely lost to, yet here he knelt on the ground crying in his fear over his family, the only thing they ever knew he cared about more than his own life.

"Yuuka whatever happens, on my word as Hokage I will make sure your family is looked after" Hiruzen stated as he squatted down and replaced his hand on Yuuka's shoulder. Yuuka looked up to the face of the old man and could see the kind look on his face, he hoped for al that he was worth that the man was not lying to him, otherwise he was sure that things were only going to get worse for him and his family.

"You had better keep your word, Hokage-sama or else I swear upon my life, I will come through on my earlier intention" Yuuka told the Hokage with a deadly undertone.

* * *

><p>"What was that all about?" Laurel asked herself as she still sat at the table after her husband had left in such a hurry. There was a knock at her door. Moving from the table she walked to her door and opened it revealing two pink haired girls at her door.<p>

"Sachi and, hello Sakura-Chan" Laurel added sweetly when looking at the small seven-year old girl. The small girl smiled up to the older woman.

"Hello Laurel-Chan!" the girl said happily as her mother laughed slightly, Laurel turned her attention to the older women who also stood at the door.

"So your husband ran out like it was an emergency too?" Laurel asked as her eyebrow lifted slightly, Sachi nodded her head and her face became more serious.

"He has never acted like that before but once I mentioned Yuuka, his mood lightened and he looked happy, then I mentioned Naruto his face darkened and he left quickly, he had me and Sakura worried" Sachi explained as Sakura nodded her head in confirmation.

"I see, it was the same for Inoichi, but enough of that for now, come in come in" Laurel implored as her two guests made their way into the Yamanaka household, Laurel closed the door and knelt down to Sakura's height "Ino is in her room" she said with a smile, the small girl smiled back at her before nodding and moving over to the staircase and ascending them towards Ino's room.

Once Sakura was out of the room Sachi let go of a breath she was unaware she was even holding. Laurel looked over to her friend in concern.

"Something wrong?" Laurel asked the pink-haired woman, Sachi looked up to her friend and sighed before moving over to Laurel's couch and plopping down tiredly. Sachi realised what she had so inappropriately done and looked up apologetically.

"Sorry, I never asked first" Sachi said as she was about to get up again, Laurel grabbed onto her shoulders and pushed her back down with a smile on her face.

"After all these years I'm not going to begrudge you a seat in my house Sachi" Laurel laughed mostly to herself, Sachi breathed a sigh of relief and rested back into the chair, Laurel moved over to her chair on the opposite side of a small ornate table. Once sitting down she looked at her friend again.

"Now what's wrong?" Laurel asked finally.

"It's nothing major, Sakura just worries when her dad runs out of the house like that, she thinks she'll never see him again" Sachi explained as she closed her eyes while doing so.

"I see, she's very attached to her father isn't she?" Laurel asked with a smile on her face still.

"Always has been, she always loved her daddy more than her mummy, but I guess that it never bothered me, I just loved her all the same" Sachi explained as a happy smile crossed her face.

"Well, Ino has always been the same, she loved her daddy too, she never made it obvious, but whenever she saw us she'd give her daddy a bigger hug" Laurel stated as she crossed her arms over her chest with a mock pout "What on earth does my husband have that I don't?" Laurel asked with a mock whine that caused Sachi to laugh slightly.

"It's like they say, girls are always daddy's little girl" Sachi said with no hint of irritation in her voice, Laurel's face softened up slightly at the blatant truth and nodded her head.

"Guess you're right there" Laurel admitted to her friend.

* * *

><p>A few moments of peaceful silence ensnared them, only ever broken by the times that the two small girls upstairs talked loudly or squealed in joy as they played around. Both women looked to each other with smiles on their faces, happy their daughters were getting along so well.<p>

"They have been friends since they were able to talk, I don't think there is much that can break them apart" Sachi told her friend with her happy and content smile still in place.

"Yeah, you're right, I'm glad our girls are such good friends" Laurel concurred.

* * *

><p>A few more moments passed and both women felt the strain of waiting begin to apply to them. Sachi was nervously twisting her fingers between each other and Laurel was twirling some of her hair on her right index fingertip.<p>

"What do you think the emergency was?" Sachi asked worriedly as her friend looked to her with that same expression.

"I don't know but it must be something important" Laurel answered softly. Both women sat in what had become a very uncomfortable silence, they were Shinobi wives, so they were obviously used to understanding the lifestyles of their husbands. It did not however help them to let go, of course they would still be worried about their husbands, love was love.

Over an hour had passed and both women were on the verge of going right up to the Hokage tower and demanding from the Hokage himself where their husbands were. Simultaneously both women grabbed onto the sides of their seats and hoisted themselves onto their feet. They both smirked at each other because of the action they had basically copied each other do. As they went to move from their seats the front door suddenly opened and revealed Inoichi standing in the doorway, looking for lack of a better word, tired.

"Honey!" Laurel shouted as she rushed to her husband and grabbed him into an embrace, hugging him tightly. Inoichi simply copied the move and hugged back into his wife laying his head on his wife's shorter shoulder. "What was that about?" Laurel asked her husband as she pulled back and looked up to the face of her husband who had assumed a weak smile.

"Let's go into the house and talk about it ok?" Inoichi asked, but it almost sounded like he was pleading.

"Is my husband at home then?" Sachi asked the same man as she moved forwards.

"No, he is here with what we need to talk about" Inoichi explained as he walked into the house with Kane behind him holding something in his arms. Kane looked down at the bundle with apprehension almost stuck to his face, he looked up to the two women and then to Inoichi. His friend nodded his head and Kane turned his attention back to the two women.

"Ladies, I give you Naruto Inoychi" Kane said as he came into the room more and revealed Naruto's sleeping form to the two women. They almost jumped when they saw that friendly and familiar face with so much sweat on his head and breathing just a little bit heavily.

They moved into the house and Kane set Naruto down onto one of the couches, then following everyone else he moved into the kitchen where everyone else had also went to. They all sat down with the couples sitting next to each other. Inoichi and Laurel sat directly across from Sachi and Kane.

"Maybe one of us should watch him?" Inoichi asked Kane, he realised with the tone of Inoichi's voice that it was to be a precautionary measure and nodded his head in understanding, he lifted himself from his seat and leant down to give his wife a peck on the cheek "I'll only be through here, try not to be too loud so we don't wake him up" Kane told them as he moved back through to the living room. Once he had left both women turned on Inoichi with questions burning in their eyes. Inoichi did not need them to ask.

"Let's just say Yuuka made it exceedingly clear that if anything happened to Naruto while he was away he would kill us" Inoichi answered their silent questions. Both women's expressions turned to ones of sheer horror.

"Yuuka said that?" Laurel asked incredulously as Sachi simply looked at him in sheer shock.

"Yes. What you must understand is that this is Yuuka, after that incident with his son his family took priority over everything, he killed a ninja who tried to harm Naruto, his wrist was broken in the process" Inoichi answered as both women gaped at him.

"He done that? But won't he be in trouble with the Hokage?" Sachi asked this time more hushed as she thought Ino and Sakura may have been alerted to something with Laurel's outburst.

"Yes, that is why we have Naruto, he and the Hokage talked things out and came to a compromise" Inoichi explained to the two women who raised their eyebrows to him.

"I gotta keep on going?" Inoichi asked pointlessly.

"Yeeeaaapp" his wife answered slowly as his face turned into one of a slight smile at his wife.

"Very well" Inoichi said calmly.

* * *

><p><em><span>Flashback<span>_

Yuuka's breathing relaxed as did his grip on Naruto's small form, his face still held hostility but Hiruzen could tell that he was only just managing to keep that look on his face. Inoichi and Kane stood on high alert, still waiting for Yuuka to crack at any moment. Yuuka rose to his feet and placed the boy onto the bed before turning around and facing the three men in his room.

"Now, let's talk" Yuuka said to Hiruzen evenly as he stood in front of Naruto, still protecting him from them all.

"Very well, Kane, if you would please get that man out of here before Naruto wakes up" Hiruzen asked of him as Kane nodded his head in understanding.

Kane moved over to the crumpled form of the man in the room, leaning down he moved the form on to it's side and found himself confronted with a familiar and disgusting face.

"Hokage-Sama, we don't need to worry about prison for Yuuka" Kane said slowly as he stood up straight again and let the Hokage and Inoichi crowd around him, even Yuuka who wanted to know what he was on about moved over.

"Who is this man?" Yuuka asked quickly as he could see the Hokage's neck tensing and Inoichi's face had darkened slightly, Yuuka looked between the men and then to Kane in question.

"He's the man who basically chased Naruto out" Kane said finally, when he could no longer take the glaring look from his old friend. Yuuka's face had anger flashing over it but surprisingly enough it settled into a satisfied look quickly.

"Looks like I got the cause of Naruto's pain, or at least the one who forced him into that final solitude" Yuuka confirmed to himself as he looked to the Hokage who had turned to him.

"We have no reason to arrest you anymore Yuuka-san" Hiruzen said happily as a smile found it's way onto his face.

"What do you mean?" Yuuka asked confused now with the sudden shot at freedom.

"When I was forced to banish Naruto from this village, he was the one everyone pointed out as causing such a thing. Since he broke the law that forbade anyone from mentioning the Nine-Tails I had him outcast too, after a prison sentence. He is in essence a rogue ninja, so killing him is entirely justifiable" Hiruzen explained as his smile only seemed to grow. Inoichi and Kane still stood quite unable to see where the conversation was going, but having a slight suspicion.

A few moments of silence passed before the silence was broken by Yuuka.

"So what happens to us then?" Yuuka asked while looking down at Naruto as he spoke "Are we free to go?" he asked hopefully, wanting nothing more but to get out of the village.

"Yes, effectively you are free to go" Hiruzen relented as Yuuka's head fell and a sigh of relief escaped from his mouth.

"Thank you Hokage-Sama" Yuuka said acting his normal polite way with the man again, finally.

Yuuka made to stand again, still cradling Naruto within his arms and a smile upon his face again. For once in the whole evening Inoichi and Kane felt at ease, Yuuka had one of those 'contagious' kind of smiles, the ones that you seen them and just wanted to smile alongside him.

"If that is all then gentlemen I shall be off away home, he may not have been a man of this village anymore but I do not want mine or my son's lives in jeopardy. It was good to see you all" Yuuka said as he stood and moved over to the door out of the hotel room. "Tell your wives and daughters I said hello and tell little Sakura and Ino I'm sorry I didn't get to see them this trip" Yuuka said as he smiled at Inoichi and Kane apologetically.

"Yuuka, please do not leave this village" Hiruzen asked suddenly causing all three other men to turn to him surprised.

"Why not sir?" Yuuka asked raising his right eyebrow.

"Naruto will be in danger if he is not protected by a village" Hiruzen told him as his face betrayed nothing but concern.

"What makes you believe I will trust this village to watch over his safeguarding? When you have already failed in the process? I could just as easily go to any of the other four main villages and ask their help, and you know they will say yes to me" Yuuka told them which they all had to concede to, Yuuka had a lot of friends in the right places.

"His heritage is here, it is not fair for him not to know of it. If you are here then that means that there is someone able to look after him, the only reason we couldn't was because of the council" Hiruzen explained as Yuuka turned around fully and looked back into the room.

"What do you mean it was because of the council?" Yuuka asked as his confusion came through clearly with a slight undertone of annoyance.

"They refused to allow any of us watch over Naruto or take him into our own homes, if I did not have to be a man of the people I would have happily taken Naruto in and watched him as my own son" Hiruzen told Yuuka as the former man looked to the first in surprise.

"But, after all the things I said? Why didn't you mention that?" Yuuka asked a feeling of guilt rising in his chest.

"Would you have honestly believed me? If I were to just tell you that I tried but failed when the entire village was against him, it would sound like I was trying to make myself to be a saint amongst devils" Hiruzen began as Yuuka continued to watch him carefully. "These people are not devils, they are simply like yourself Yuuka. They care about their families, some of them lost family members the night of the Kyuubi attack. They hated Naruto because he held the Kyuubi, he was the carrier of their anger, so instead of the creature itself they targeted him" Hiruzen continued as Kane rose to his feet and assumed his place at Hiruzen's left side, while Inoichi stood by his right side. "They got their punishments whenever I could find them but that last time with that man over there, I was too late" Hiruzen finished as Yuuka looked at the Hokage in a completely different light now.

"Why does Naruto need to be protected by a village?" Yuuka asked suddenly suspicious again.

"Akatsuki" Hiruzen answered simply. He needed say no more, great thing about being a travelling merchant, you heard all of the whispers the world had to offer you and if you had the right connections, you got the most credible whispers.

"Akatsuki? The criminal organisation? Why does Naruto need to be protected from them?" Yuuka asked confused, he knew they were a very lethal criminal organisation full of rogue ninjas from every village except the hidden cloud, the Raikage had boastfully made sure he knew of that.

"We have unconfirmed reports that they are capturing Jinchuriki, for reasons yet unknown" Hiruzen explained, yet he need not explain anymore as Yuuka was deep in thought.

"Hokage-Sama? If yo are willing to give us space in this village then I would like to take up the offer" Yuuka said after a few moments of deep thought.

"That is good news Yuuka" Hiruzen began before he was abruptly cut off by Yuuka speaking again.

"However, I would like to ask that some conditions are met" Yuuka stated where Hiruzen looked at him with a questioning gaze.

"It is nothing in the way of pity or help. I ask that you could allow your hospitality to extend to my entire family, including my wife and baby girl, also I would like to ask if you could have someone tutor Naruto in the ways to control his chakra. I want him to at least control it, if he ever wishes to be a ninja then he can do so of his own accord" Yuuka said as Hiruzen continued to watch him carefully "Does that seem fair enough?" Yuuka asked this time seeming more polite in the way that he spoke. Hiruzen only smiled in response.

"I was intending your entire family Yuuka, as for your other request I will see what I can do" Hiruzen answered as he smiled to Yuuka yet again who smiled wholeheartedly.

"Thank you sir, we must leave as soon as possible and get my wife and child ready to move here, I'd prefer to tell her face to face" Yuuka told them quickly as he turned around to leave.

"You know very well Yuuka that you will travel faster without Naruto, I do not mean this in a bad way but the quicker you are the better it will be for you all, leave Naruto with us, we will watch him until you return with your family. I shall also prepare a house for you" Hiruzen told him as he smiled to the man yet again.

"Now can I trust you men to watch over this boy? That you will do all in your power to keep him safe?" Yuuka asked as he stood in the doorway with Naruto still in his arms.

"Yes you can trust us Yuuka-san" Inoichi reassured him as he stepped forward to take the boy from Yuuka's hands.

"Inoichi and I will look after him until you get back" Kane told him as he stepped forward to take the boy from Yuuka too, Inoichi seen Kane's intention and upon knowing Kane's softer nature allowed the other man to carry the small boy. Yuuka after a moment of hesitation handed Naruto over to Kane, not before he grabbed both of them by the hem of the clothes and brought their faces exceedingly close to his own.

"You two are my greatest and most loyal friends and I trust you beyond comparison, if I return and find that Naruto has been harmed in a way you could have prevented, I will kill you" Yuuka said in a low voice, although everyone in the room heard it.

"Worry not Yuuka, you know these men, they will look after Naruto, as shall I. now I must return to my paperwork, I bid you farewell until you return Yuuka" Hiruzen said with a smile before disappearing in a swirl of smoke and leaves.

"Yeah, until then old man" Yuuka said with a slight grin on his face, with that he turned to Inoichi and Kane.

"Sorry about the harsh words, he is my son and I love him. I just want to make sure he is safe, as such you have my apologies for the harsh tone I used, the point still stand, please watch over him until I return" Yuuka implored before he left the doorway in a flash of black.

"Guess we got to tell our wives about this then huh?" Kane asked as he turned to Inoichi who in turn chuckled.

"I guess so yes" Inoichi answered, not looking forward to that confrontation at all.

_**End Flashback**_

* * *

><p>"So Yuuka and his family are living in this village soon?" Laurel asked her husband after he finished.<p>

"Yes, that is basically what their compromise was" Inoichi answered before there was sounds from the living room.

They all moved into the living room to find Ino and Sakura staring at Naruto who lay across one of the sofas sleeping peacefully. They both had confused expressions on their faces as they looked at the boy, they leaned in closer until their faces were barely inches away from Naruto's. Naruto's eyes began fluttering as he awoke, seeing two faces directly in front of his own as he woke he panicked and tried to jump back further into the couch, only to find himself not getting anywhere.

"Dad! Dad!" Naruto called desperately, the two girls looked at him with a soft expression of concern.

"Don't worry we're here" Ino began.

"Yeah we'll stay with you until your dad comes back for you" Sakura finished for her friend. Naruto was not convinced.

"DAAAD!" Naruto yelled, Inoichi came over quickly as Kane reached up and covered Naruto's mouth with his hand.

"Naruto please, we are friends of your father's, if you stay quiet we will tell you where he is and what is happening" Kane said softly and to his surprise Naruto nodded his head. Kane removed his hand just as Inoichi came down to his side and knelt next to the standing forms of their daughters.

"Please tell me what you can?" Naruto asked formally, surprising all of the adults in the house.

"Of course Naruto" Inoichi told the boy, Naruto looked to him and sat up straight in his seat, looking intently at the man, waiting for the information.

* * *

><p><em>Thank you for waiting patiently for this chapter, I had a wedding this week so I was unable to blast into this chapter as muh as I would have normally, anyway here is the next chapter and I hope that you guys enjoy it as much as I am writing this story so far. Until the next chapter please enjoy, R&amp;R if you please, thank you kindly =] - Varrukh <em>


	9. Chapter 9 Mysteries Revealed III

He sat staring at the picture that he held in his hand, memories flooded into his mind as he stared endlessly into the picture. He gripped tighter onto the picture as his thoughts invaded this moment. Yuuka looked upon this picture fondly, those were simpler days where you knew who your friends were and your enemies were just as clear. The picture depicted a time in their younger years; there he stood in all of his thirteen year old glory alongside his friends. He had much shorter hair then, barely long enough to ever really take any form; really it just looked like he was barely a step away from being bald. Next to him was a boy of about the same age, longish blonde hair that was left un-kept, blazing blue eyes and a look that seemed to just glow with mischief, which was his friend Minato alright. Next to Minato a girl stood with a proud posture. She had long raven black hair and a pair of beautiful silver eyes which had on many occasions during their earlier days entranced many men.

Those were his friends when he was younger, their days had been better than he could have hoped for when he was a child, the village of Konoha was one of the most beautiful he had ever seen at the time and it was a place of good people. He had found recently however that maybe the things he was used to were in fact false, the Konoha that Naruto had grown up in had been a harsh life for a child to grow up in. This thought brought Yuuka's vision across to the other picture that he held in his other hand, stroking his thumb across the surface affectionately Yuuka looked at the picture of his family.

He stood right at the back of the picture, he had on some casual clothes that consisted of a white shirt and a pair of casual black pants, and he had even shaved for the picture. His wife stood at his side her long aqua blue hair laid across her shoulders loosely, she was wearing a beautiful white sundress that accentuated her curves slightly, her smile had brought a slight pink tinge to her cheeks and her purple eyes shone out in radiance to all who looked at the picture. In Narino's arms a small girl only just over a year old wearing a white dress much like her mother looked out from her mother's arms, she had a small amount of dark blue hair coming through and her eyes were the same purple colour as her mother's, her small hand was snaked out from her mother's arms and was grasped by a slightly larger one. In front of Yuuka stood Naruto, he was holding onto Kyota's hand but still looking ahead, he was wearing a white shirt much like Yuuka but he had on a pair of grey trousers instead of black. Yuuka's right hand onto Naruto's right shoulder and his left hand weaved around his wife's waist. In all they looked just like the perfect family right there and then.

Both pictures meant a great deal to him, they were glimpses into his two lives, one was his life as a faithful husband and father, the other was of his friendship and bonds in a life that had ultimately brought him sorrow. With a sigh Yuuka put the pictures down and stood up, he had been sitting on his bed staring at those two pictures for too long now. Narino was getting both herself and Kyota ready to leave for Konoha, which was not one of the greatest arguments he and his wife ever had, in fact it was one of very few he and his wife had. As he heard the thumps and bang of things being moved around he knew that she was still fuming from that argument, but he had to make that decision and it was for Naruto's sake that they go for Konoha.

* * *

><p>Narino walked into their room at that moment in order to grab a few final things that she was going to need from this home before they left for Konoha. She walked with her face in a scowl as she swept past Yuuka without even looking at him; he guessed that she must have left Kyota out by the porch waiting for them to be fully prepared to leave. Narino opened her drawer harder than she needed to and the entire drawer came out and showered the floor with her clothes. With a frustrated growl Narino leaned down and began picking the clothes off the floor. Yuuka felt bad leaving her to do all of the work and moved over to her side in order to help her, in all of their arguments it was always him who caved in first, he just loved her too dearly to stay mad at her, even if it was her who was unhappy with him.<p>

"Narino, please understand I'm doing this for Naruto and us as a family" Yuuka pleaded with his wife's back as he lifted some clothes off the floor and placed it onto the bed right beside him. He watched as her form turned around to him and just waited for the angry look that he would receive from his wife, her usually beautiful face whenever angry always hurt him. However, she turned to him with not a look of anger on her face but one of concern, this he had not expected.

"I know Yuuka, but I'm just scared for Naruto, what happens when he has to live in the very same village that chased him out two years ago? I hate to see my little boy in distress and I can only see that happening if we are in Konoha" Narino said to her husband with her eyes set into a distant stare as she said those words to Yuuka.

"We will be there to watch over him as he grows up, we will teach him how to look after himself, we will comfort him if he is ever hurt, we will help him if he is ever confused, that's our duty as parents" Yuuka finished as he looked at his wife with a smile on his face. Narino had to concede to herself, Yuuka definitely had her whenever he used that smile, many said it was his main selling point as a merchant, they were damn right. Narino nodded with a smile on her own face as Yuuka brought her into a tight hug, while within that embrace Narino whispered something that had been worrying her.

"What about the thing that is inside Naruto? Won't it cause problems for him even without the villagers?" Narino asked as her concern came over her voice again. Yuuka had thought about this and after realising what he had asked the Hokage realised that it would be exceedingly hard for the Hokage to get a ninja to willingly tutor Naruto without any ulterior motives.

"I will teach him how to control it, I will teach him as best I can in order to look after himself, I will make sure that no person will be able to hurt him again without any kind of consequences" Yuuka said to his wife as she leaned back and looked at Yuuka, it had been a while since she had saw that look on his face, this face meant that Yuuka would put his entire soul into this. She smiled at her husband and leaned forward into him again and captured his lips within her own in a quick kiss before they both got to their feet.

"Are you ready to go yet love?" Yuuka asked his wife happily as he made his way towards the front door, keeping Kyota herself for long periods of time did not go down well with the toddler, Naruto could attest to that every time that he returned home from his and Yuuka's long journeys. Narino moved over to the top of the chest of drawers and lifted up a set of jewellery alongside one specific piece before walking over to him.

"Yes I'm ready to go now Yuuka" Narino said to her husband as she walked past him and grabbed his hand making him come with her. Yuuka took one last look at the room that had served as his wife's and his own bedroom, many memories were within the confines of these walls, and there those same memories would stay, their only other place of refuge being his and his wife's minds.

As he and Narino made their way to the front door it finally came to Yuuka that he had forgotten to bring back the horses and cart with him, he turned to his wife with the most sheepish smile that he had ever conjured, Narino noticed this instantly.

"You forgot the horse and cart didn't you?" Narino asked softly as Yuuka nodded slightly and dropped his head, Narino giggled at her husband's show of childishness and cupped his face in her hand. "We'll just have to do it _that_ way then wont we?" she asked sweetly.

Yuuka had already thought about that and had already prepared for such an occasion. Pulling out three scrolls his wife turned to him with a smile on her face "You planned this didn't you?" she asked with a giggle.

"Maybe just a little, in order to get there faster than by walking or by horse" Yuuka answered as he set about getting things prepared, while Narino simply watched him as an amused smile danced across her face.

"You really like using that one don't you?" Narino giggled to her husband as he looked back up to her with one of his smiles again.

"But of course, it's one of the few ways I am able to remember my friend and also…" Yuuka said before he vanished in a flash of black and dropped down behind his wife "…because it is one of the most useful things ever" Yuuka finished as his wife near enough jumped right out of her skin.

"I thought you couldn't just spontaneously do that!" Narino complained as she looked to Yuuka with an annoyed look about her, this only managed to get Yuuka to chuckle.

"I can't, I had to set that one up and this was the first time I could finally do it, just had to take the chance" Yuuka finished with a huge grin now. Narino simply softly shoved him in the shoulder before she turned around and lifted Kyota into her arms before Yuuka placed the last of the things away.

"Right I think we are ready to go now dear" Narino said to her husband as he nodded his head and moved over to her, he lifted her into his arms in the bridal style and opened the front door, managing to lock it again somehow he turned back facing the outside again. The cool night air caressed his cheek as he took a deep breath. Looking down to his wife and child he smiles slightly.

"Cover her eyes and ears, she might get a fright" Yuuka asked of his wife before she quietly accepted and done as she was asked. "Here we go" Yuuka said before him, his wife and child had vanished into a black and blue flash.

* * *

><p>"Your father is on his way home…" Inoichi began before Naruto had already interrupted him with his face contorted in fear at the mention of his father leaving him.<p>

"Why did my daddy leave me?" Naruto asked quickly as tears began to make themselves noticeable in his eyes as he looked up to the seasoned ninja, Inoichi struggled to regain his composure and was only saved by Kane joining in the explanation.

"No Naruto, he is his way home to retrieve your mother and sister, they are coming her to live in Konoha" Kane explained as Naruto simply looked up to him in confusion.

"Why are they going to live here? What's wrong with home?" Naruto asked the confusion on his face clearly showing that none of this was making any sense to the small boy, although what had they expected? He was only a child.

"Nothing is wrong with it, they just wish to move here to Konoha, you will be with them too, and this place will be your home soon" Kane said to him as Naruto seemed to come under greater understanding of what it all meant now. Naruto looked at all of the people within the room now, there were two men and women with two girls in there too, Naruto felt wholly outnumbered.

"You all live here?" Naruto asked as all of the adults looked to each other with looks of 'did he really just ask that?' the girls however were less quiet about it.

"Of course we live here idiot! This is my house and Sakura lives just down the street a little" Ino told Naruto forcefully making Naruto sink back into the couch slightly at the sudden raised voice aimed in his direction.

"Ino, there was no need to shout" Laurel reprimanded her daughter as the little girl looked up "Sorry" was all she said before turning back to the small boy who had occupied her couch.

"Don't worry Naruto, we are all nice people here, we won't hurt you, we are here to help look after you until your family gets here" Sachi said as Naruto turned to her and she had to fight down the feeling that his face minus the whiskers was familiar. Sachi cocked her head to the side in order to get a different look at the boy but was slightly amused when the boy basically copied her action and looked at her with a puzzled look across his face too.

"Sorry Naruto, I thought you looked like someone I used to know" Sachi apologised as Naruto just simply shrugged his shoulders before telling her "That's ok ma'am". That had definitely taken Sachi by surprise; she had not expected the boy to talk quite like that anyway.

"How old are you Naruto?" Inoichi asked out of curiosity as he was quite surprised by the degree that Naruto had reached in his conversational skills, especially at his age. Naruto brought his hand up to his chin as he thought about it.

"I'm seven years old!" Naruto proclaimed as a smile found its way onto his face, every one of the adults were astonished at how much that smile resembled the one that Yuuka had. Damn that smile itself got him attention and by the way Naruto used he would get much the same attention too. This information was not however lost on the two girls who had heard his proclamation and had instantly jumped at the opportunity.

"So are we!" Sakura shouted to him as her smile made it known on her face, Ino's doing much the same thing on her face. Naruto looked at both of the girls who were smiling at him, it was nice to have people smiling at him, and if people smiled at him then it meant that they didn't hate him. Whenever he saw that smile on a person's face he came to the conclusion that he could maybe get a friend out of these people.

"Would you like to be my friend?" Naruto asked suddenly as both girls stopped their smiling and looked at him seriously for a moment before looking at each other. Naruto waited patiently for their answer as both girls shrugged their shoulders before turning back to him and smiling yet again.

"Yes" Ino replied for both her and Sakura. The adults within the room looked upon the scene with amazement, those girls did not let many people integrate into their duo, and if anything it seemed as if they could not be separated. Yet they had just watched as Naruto basically talked to them for less than a few moments and had managed to integrate himself into their duo which would now probably be more aptly named a trio.

"But…" damn, should have known that it would not be quite as easy for the small boy, they had to give him credit though, some kids did not even get to that stage. "… you have to play with us all the time" Ino told the small boy with her smile shining out to him, he simply smiled in return "Ok" was all he said before he was yanked out of his seat by both Ino and Sakura and quickly whisked away upstairs.

* * *

><p>"Wow... They're good" was all Laurel could say after the door had been closed behind the trio and soon enough the giggles of the girls and the laughter of Naruto could be heard.<p>

"Hey, they're kids who better to understand kids than kids themselves" Kane pointed out as all the adults had to admit that he proved a valid point. They all made their way over to the couches as they collapsed down into them with the men sitting and their wives leaning into their respective husbands.

"What do you think it will be like with Yuuka back in the village? Do you think that the people will remember him or anything that he done for us?" Laurel asked all present as they were all forced to face the fact that that statement already had an answer and nothing very positive came of it. Yuuka's exploits were legendary but they all had doubts that many besides themselves, the Hokage and some Hyuuga's would even remember him.

"I think it will be good for him to be back in the village, it will give us one of our friends back and give you and Sachi a chance to finally get to know his wife, you always said you wanted to meet the woman who managed to calm down Yuuka Inoyichi" Inoichi answered her as he chuckled at the expression both Sachi and Laurel had taken, they definitely had to meet this woman.

"I could fall asleep right now, I haven't had a good rest since early this morning" Kane said as he looked over to the clock on the wall "Okay scratch that yesterday morning then" Kane corrected himself as he sank deeper into the couch, well damn if he could not just fall asleep here, it was just so inviting and comfortable. "Wait, shouldn't Sakura be in her bed?" Kane asked as he perked up slightly and moved his wife into an uncomfortable position, bad idea.

"Lay down again, I was comfy and you moved m, so I repeat LAY DOWN" Sachi demanded of her husband who obeyed happily, not quite with enough energy in order to take on an angry wife, he would require a lot for that, especially with Sachi. "Anyway it's technically Sunday today so she can sleep in well into the day" Sachi explained as she made herself comfortable on Kane again.

Inoichi had taken it upon himself to chuckle lightly at the antics of his friends, they made a weird couple and Sachi enjoyed it when she got her way with Kane. She knew very well that there were lines that could not be crossed but otherwise she could almost get Kane to do many things her way. With the slightest of vibrations he made Laurel was made aware of his movements and turned on him. "Don't think you're gonna get it any easier bud, keep moving like that and I will hit you" Laurel said to Inoichi as he instantly stopped his chuckling in fear of his ribs finding themselves in pain.

* * *

><p>Kane and Inoichi found their eyelids becoming heavy and found that staying awake was beginning to get harder. Their wives who had become overly comfortable on their bodies had fallen asleep. Both men looked to their respective wives and then to each other.<p>

"Wish we could go to sleep just now" Kane complained to Inoichi as he stroked a strand of hair away from Sachi's brow, Inoichi smiled as he watched his friend acting this way around his wife, a ninja's life is fleeting so one had to appreciate the time that they had with their loved ones. It was then that they realised that things had gotten quiet upstairs; Inoichi looked to Kane who cocked his head to substitute for a shrugging of the shoulders.

"Maybe they fell asleep too?" Kane said to Inoichi as the blonde haired man decided that it was probably the most logical explanation to the sudden quietness. To both of their surprises the form of a small boy came down the stairs rubbing his eyes tiredly and smiling slightly, he noticed both men looking at them and gave them a weak smile before explaining himself quietly.

"Ino-Chan and Sakura-Chan were tired and wanted to go to sleep, I left to let them go to bed" Naruto explained quietly, almost as if he knew that the women were asleep.

"That's nice of you Naruto, what about yourself, aren't you sleepy at all, you know you can use the spare room" Inoichi said to the small boy as he indicated the room that he meant with his head only to see Naruto shaking his head at his indication.

"That's ok sir, I'll just wait here until my daddy comes to pick me up" Naruto answered him, yet again surprising him with his level of respect for him, honestly Inoichi could not believe that Yuuka had managed to teach a boy of that age to use manners, not that he was referring solely to Naruto, he meant boys in general at that age.

"Are you sure, you look pretty tired" Kane asked as Naruto turned to him this time his tired smile still on his face.

"Yes sir, I'm pretty sure thank you" he answered as he took a seat on the floor to which Inoichi instantly noticed and spoke up about. He really didn't need to sit on the floor there was still space on the couches to accommodate him.

"Naruto you can sit next to me while you wait for your father, as you can see I can't do much with my wife clinging to me like this" Inoichi joked as Laurel involuntarily hit him on the head in her sleep. "Damnit!" Inoichi groaned in a low tone so not to wake her and face her full wrath. Naruto looked to Inoichi and without feeling any sense of danger made his way over, pulling himself onto the couch Naruto leaned up against the armrest at his side and watched the door intently. Inoichi looked over to Naruto and could see he was losing the battle against sleep, he smiled slightly. "You know Naruto; you could go to sleep while you wait for your father, me and Kane will make sure to wake you when he appears" Inoichi told him as the boy looked to him.

"You promise?" he asked sounding like he had almost already departed from the world of the waking, this caused Inoichi and Kane to look at the boy with warm smiles.

"Of course, the next time you wake up you'll see your dad, Naruto" Inoichi said as Naruto smiled at him and set his head down on the armrest and instantly fell asleep.

* * *

><p>"He's a cute kid you know that?" Kane asked as Inoichi looked at Kane and then back to Naruto again.<p>

"Yeah he is, he's been through far too much for a kid his age, I can only hope that he doesn't have to go through what he did before, he's too nice a boy to let a few idiotic people spoil" Inoichi spoke out as Kane nodded his head at each statement.

"On the plus side though, he seems to have gotten in with our daughters, managed to make him their friend already" Kane remarked as he and Inoichi chuckled with each other.

"One other reason he should stay around, we have to scare the living shit out of him whenever he tries anything with our daughters" Inoichi said as Kane looked at him with a look that said 'chances of that are slim'.

"Come on you saw the way he has been acting whenever he's talked to us, he's definitely going to grow up to be a gentleman and if it is Yuuka that has been teaching him these manners then he will be the grandest of gentlemen" Kane said as Inoichi had to concede defeat at this valid point.

"I'd love to say that it was indeed me who had taught him his manners but he taught himself them" a voice from the shadows said that Inoichi and Kane looked over to.

"Hello Yuuka, as you can see your boy is safe and well, he just wanted to wait for you here, although we coaxed him into sleeping at least, you want me to wake him up now you're here?" Inoichi asked as he sleepily watched Yuuka and his wife step out of the shadows with a small bundle in Narino's arms rising and falling gently.

"No it is ok, I have talked with the Hokage and our living arrangements have been made, I'll take Naruto now" Yuuka said as he stepped away from his wife towards the sleeping form of Naruto.

"Yuuka, I know you don't entirely like the idea of having Naruto in this village, but trust me when I say that both my own and Kane's family will help to make sure that he is looked out for, he too much of a gentleman to say no to" Inoichi said as a smile found its way onto Yuuka's face. He bent down and lifted Naruto into his arms before turning back to the two men.

"Thank you, from the bottom of my soul I thank you for what you have done and what you promised to do, I will not forget it and I will make sure that Naruto knows of it too. I bid you farewell and I do not doubt that we shall see each other around the village from now on, goodbye my friends" Yuuka said as he began walking for the door with his wife not far behind him.

"Wait a second, how did you get inside my house without tripping any traps or coming through the front door?" Inoichi asked in confusion.

"Simple, I got one of the seals set up outside your house and I know all of your traps too well, so it was easy for us to get in, even without waking Kyota" Yuuka answered with a proud smile on his face at his accomplishment.

"I got to change the traps then, don't tell Laurel you got in or else she will have my head" Inoichi almost pleaded with Yuuka who only laughed.

"Don't worry, she'd want to kill me just as much as you for it, anyway I will see you guys later" Yuuka said as he smiled to both of them that great smile of his and walked out the front door, closing it behind himself once his wife and daughter had exited.

Inoichi and Kane shared a look after Yuuka had left with his family. The village had better hope that they did not do anything to anger Yuuka, he was kind by nature but threaten something close to him and he would kill, it was that simple. Suddenly both wondered even though he was a close friend and undeniable ally, was it not a bit risky to let such a volatile man run free through Konoha? Questions aside both men were given what they craved and finally fell asleep on their respective couches with their wives acting almost like blankets, who in turn had used their coats as blankets.

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><p>Yuuka and his family arrived at the front door of his new home, semi-large doors greeted them and Yuuka knew this home from before, it was just like a long gone homecoming, this was his old home, perfect for everything his family needed, even had a training area for him to help Naruto.<p>

"Perfect" was all Yuuka said as his wife looked to him with a smile before they both made their ways inside.

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><p><em>well here you guys go a nice new chapter for this story i hope that you guys enjoy this chapter and forgive me for any technicalities that you may be able to pick out with this story but all i can really say is that it is my interpretation of what might and might not happen, i ask that you please understand that and if you dont like it then i apologise, anyway as always could you please R&amp;R and i will see you all next chapter =] - Varrukh<em>


	10. Chapter 10 The Strongest Bonds Are Made

"Now class there is someone that I would like you all to meet" the voice of Iruka Umino shouted out as he attempted to gain the attention of the entire class. At his outcry the entire class had stopped all of their activities and given him their mostly undivided attention. Satisfied that most of his class had indeed begun to at least look in his direction Iruka continued on.

"This is Naruto Inoyichi, he is a new boy here and will be joining our class" Iruka declared to everyone in the room as he brought Naruto into the room more and presented him to everyone. Many of the children within the room instantly done as expected and whispered things to their friends as they took in the sight of the small boy with whisker marks on his face. Naruto in turn looked at all of them through somewhat fearful eyes. He had not been in such a crowded room with people his own age before, sure he had just about as many friends as were currently in the room, but never in the one place at the one time.

Ino and Sakura sat up at the back of the classroom just watching as their newest friend was being introduced into their classroom. They both smiled as they were happy that he was in the same class as them, he would at least have some friends within the class at least. They were somewhat annoyed when they looked around the room and could see some of the more subtle movements and actions of some people within the room. Some of the other kids were giggling with each other and others were pointing to Naruto with somewhat, less-than-friendly looks on their faces.

Naruto under such close scrutiny was feeling slightly overwhelmed by the amount of attention that he was getting from the rest of the class, he wanted to talk to them of course, but right now there were just too many of them for him to talk to at once. Iruka noticed that Naruto was not going to do anything himself or without any provocation so helped him along his way.

"Why don't you tell us a little about yourself Naruto?" Iruka asked as the small boy looked up at him as he done so, this sent a chill through Iruka's body as that face held so much resemblance to someone he respected greatly, their death being a complete and utter blow for the entire village. He was unable to think on the subject long as Naruto eventually begun his talk about himself.

"Well… my name is Naruto Inoyichi, I live with my mom, dad and little sister not too far away from here, I like Ramen and helping with my family, I don't really like people who are completely unfair to others and whenever anyone says anything bad about my sister. My desire is to watch over my family until I'm old enough to have my own one, that about sums me up" Naruto finished as he smiled to the entire classroom. They all sat there in complete silence as the information from Naruto was given the time to sink in before a boy in the second row to Naruto's right burst out laughing.

"Don't you think you're only setting yourself up to fail? (ha ha) I mean look at you! Why the hell do you have whiskers! Who in the right mind would ever want to love you!" the boy chimed out as he doubled over his table in a fit of laughter slamming his fist onto the table as well. All around the class others were suppressing giggles of their own or in some cases kept their mouths shut, most noticeably being one boy with black hair who simply looked at the laughing boy with contempt.

"Wh… What do you mean?" Naruto asked clearly hurt at the pure venom of that statement from the small boy, he had only just came into the classroom and instantly he was met with conflict, he wasn't prepared for this. The boy looked up with a smirk on his face.

"I mean that you look like a freak, I mean hell, who made you wear whiskers today? Did your sister paint them on for you?" the boy asked as his head rolled backwards and he released another heavy amount of laughter. The laughter was only impeded when the sound of a roar cut across the laughter and then the sound of a grunt.

Ino and Sakura had watched as Naruto literally leapt at the boy the second that his sister was mentioned, in the last few weeks that they had known Naruto he had never once acted like that. Iruka was quick to intercede him however, as he slammed his arm outwards and caught Naruto in the crook of his arm and stopped his advance completely, he was however taken a small amount across the floor due to the force that Naruto exerted on the ground. Naruto was nestled in Iruka's arms and was breathing heavily as he glared in the direction of the boy who had returned to laughing.

"IF YOU DO NOT STOP YOUR LAUGHING THIS INSTANT I SHALL EXPELL YOU FROM THIS ACADEMY!" Iruka roared at the youngster as the boy finally sobered up to what was being threatened and sat up straight in his chair, Naruto continued to struggle in Iruka's arms and he found it impressive the strength of the young boy, despite his size he was making things hard for Iruka. "Now apologise" Iruka demanded as he still continued to struggle with Naruto.

"Fine, I'm sorry Naruto, what I said was out of line" the boy apologised as he looked more to Iruka than he did to Naruto, however Iruka realising it was the best he'd get let it go at that. At least after the apology Naruto stopped his struggling and Iruka finally put him down, facing away from the boy who had recently upset him.

"Naruto your seat is over there next to Sasuke, if you could take your seat I will begin today's lesson" Iruka said to Naruto as he nodded his head in Sasuke's direction and Naruto walked over to his seat. Not much in the mood to come to yet another confrontation Naruto sat in his seat with a silence that was most unlike him, Sasuke was for the first time surprised. Every other person who ended up sitting next to him was either a girl in 'love' with him or a boy who just wanted to be his friend because of him being an Uchiha. Silently he thanked the new addition to the class and turned his attention back to Iruka as he began the class.

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><p>"Did you see that? It was like he was an animal for a second there" a girl in front of Ino and Sakura said to her friend as she nodded her head in agreement.<p>

"I know he looked like he was going to kill Furyu-san right on the spot there" she answered as she looked to the back of Naruto's head before adding. "Why did he even get so angry, I mean he was getting called names so I'd understand sadness, but he just leapt in pure anger" the girl finished as he friend just shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know, maybe he's just crazy and we have to just watch ourselves?" the first girl asked more to herself than her friend.

Ino had had enough of listening to the two girl's stupid ramblings and decided that enough was enough. "You two are complete idiots!" Ino hissed as both girls turned to regard her, both Ino and Sakura sat with faces flushed slightly red in anger. "Naruto only done that because that idiot said something about his little sister, it was very clear to both Sakura and I that if anyone harms or speaks ill of his little sister, he will not take it too kindly" Ino finished as both of the other girls looked down at their laps sheepishly.

"We've seen Naruto with his sister before and it is one of the most adorable things in the world, he is so kind and caring towards her. If she is ever in distress then he makes sure that she is fine, he is the best big brother anyone could ask for. She is like his entire world and as such he will protect her from every form of hurt" Sakura explained as Ino nodded to all of the information while the other two girls just stared at Sakura in surprise.

"How do you know so much about him?" the first girl asked as she looked back up to their faces only to see them smile at the question.

"Because we are his friends of course, we spent the last few weeks getting to know him and his family" Sakura answered with a smile while Ino remembered the events that had taught them exactly the extent of Naruto's care for his younger sibling.

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><p><em><strong>Flashback<strong>_

Naruto and Kyota were out in the small training area that had also been partially substituted for a playing area for Kyota whenever the time dictated she was able to play, and just like clockwork Naruto would always be ready to play with her. Currently Naruto was lying on his back as he held Kyota above him, she was giggling uncontrollably and he was laughing happily alongside her. Yuuka and Narino stood at the double doorway that leads from the house out to the back training area. They both smiled as they watched Naruto play with his little sister in complete and utter innocence to the outside world of Konoha.

It had been a few weeks since they had settled in and although Yuuka was slightly apprehensive at first he was slightly glad that he had taken up the offer set forth by the Hokage. It had given him a sense of security that he could not promise his family on his own, he hated to admit it but the offer from the Hokage had been a lifeline that Yuuka desperately was not going to take his family to Iwa as most people from that village still hated Minato and Naruto was not far off in resemblance. He could not take his family to Suna as the Kazekage had recently gone around the bend slightly and it was not a safe place to be. He could not go to Kiri as it was the 'blood mist' village and even though Naruto had been there it was a wakeup call for the boy that some people really did have hard lives. Whereas he could probably have went to Kumo, it was a nice climate to live in and the people of the village were nice enough, but he knew of Killer Bee and now he and Naruto were basically the same he did not want to burden the Raikage in such a way, he liked the man after all.

Yuuka had never been so happy that he had friends like the ones that he had and still does have; they had been nothing less of a godsend to his family. Inoichi and Kane had come to help him adjust to the new regime of Konoha; things had definitely changed since he was last here. He was especially happy of the wives of his friends too as one of his fears was that Narino may find it hard to make friends in a new village and he was terrified she would be ostracized from many others within the village. His worries were put to rest when Laurel and Sachi had come over one evening and introduced themselves, ever since then it was as if the three had known each other their whole lives. He was also sure that he had overheard one of their chats being directed about him but he could not make any positive identification.

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><p>There was a knock at the door behind them and as they both turned to look at each other a silent message was sent and Yuuka lost the battle of the looks due to a low blow in the form of the puppy dog eyes. With an over dramatized sigh Yuuka moved over to the front door of the house and opened it quickly frightening those on the other side of the door. He recognised them instantly and smiled to them as they jumped back in their fright, after seeing his smiling face however both of them relaxed significantly. Both were wearing their usual clothing, if only smaller due to their younger age, Ino with her purple suit and Sakura with her red dress.<p>

"Hello Inoyichi-san" Sakura chimed politely as Yuuka was still un-used to the formal way of his name being used, he had spent his entire life getting everyone he knew to call him by his given name and now he had to start on this generation? Damnit to hell.

"Hello Sakura-san and please will you just call me Yuuka? Everyone else does so you should too ok?" Yuuka asked almost pleadingly as he looked to her face which showed through her facial expressions she was torn over the idea, at turning to Ino Yuuka done much the same and looked at the blonde haired girl.

"You too Ino-san, please just call me Yuuka from now on, or Yuuka-san, just not the second name please, it makes me feel old" Yuuka joked as he began laughing which allowed both girls to feel slightly safer in giggling slightly. Yuuka noticed their hesitation to laugh and noted it, they shouldn't be afraid to express themselves in front of him, he was open minded as they got, so long as it did not concern his family in any threatening ways. Other than that you could tell him anything, ran away from home? He'd still talk to you. You were not accepted because of homosexuality? He wouldn't mind in the slightest, it was down to personal preference. There was really nothing you couldn't tell Yuuka.

"Okay Yuuka-san, is Naruto in today, we came over to see him" Ino said cheerily with a smile, as Yuuka looked to Sakura he could see that her face had resumed a calm expression, clearly she had come to a conclusion.

"Yes, Yuuka-san is Naruto in? we wanted to see him today before we have to go back to academy tomorrow" Sakura agreed with her friend, Yuuka was glad that she decided to speak to him with his given name and made a mental note that decisions made by one of them would more than likely be reciprocated by the other.

This was one of the other things that Yuuka was happy about, Naruto had made friends of these two young ladies and like most of his other bonds they were made quickly but they managed to hold steady, it was as if Naruto was a type of glue that once applied took a great deal of effort to remove. At the mention of school however it got Yuuka to thinking, he had been teaching Naruto how to control his chakra of course but it would then neglect him from the village if he did not go out and participate in the community and as much as Yuuka detested the idea of letting Naruto out in the village, he could not protect him forever. He was going to have to send him to every child's hell, school.

"Yes ladies Naruto is in fact in, he is out back with Kyota, I'm pretty sure that Kyota will share him with you if you ask her exceptionally nicely, even then you'll be hard pressed. Kyota wont share Naruto easily as you both know" Yuuka told them both as they nodded in agreement, they had tried a few times to talk to Naruto when Kyota was there and with attention diverted away from her Kyota did not take kindly to being ignored and made herself notice, usually by crying.

Yuuka stepped back from the door in order to allow both of the girls into his house and made his way inside to inform every one of their visitors, before walking too far though he remembered "close the door please one of you" Yuuka asked politely as Sakura stepped back slightly and closed the door as she done so, eventually catching up to Ino as they followed Yuuka through his house. They had been in the house a few times before but that did not make it any easier for them to walk through it, especially since Yuuka may be nice and so was his wife, but there was that in built fear of Narino that came with both Ino and Sakura.

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><p>Yuuka finally came across the doorway that lead to the outside, before he had even passed through the room he saw aqua blue hair wisp and in a second Narino had grabbed him and hauled him outside without uttering a word. Until they got outside that is.<p>

"Look! Kyota's walking!" Narino squealed as in fact Kyota was indeed walking, or to put it more accurately wobbling. The awkwardness of her steps was completely inconsequential to both parents though as they were proud that their daughter had finally began to tackle that hurdle. And who should be the one to help her walk, none other than her big brother Naruto. He stood in the direction Kyota tried to walk towards with his arms spread wide, encouraging his baby sister to come to him, almost as if promising her a hug if she succeeded.

"That's right Kyota you can do it!" Naruto encouraged her as he smiled to her and the small girl gurgled in happiness as she finally made it to Naruto and was whisked up into the air by her big brother, giggling all the way. Naruto then hugged her close to his body as she awkwardly tried to do the same thing but was only capable of resting her head in the crook of Naruto's shoulder. Naruto was soon joined by Yuuka and Narino soon after as they hugged him and Narino even kissed him on the forehead before taking her girl into her own arms and congratulating her herself.

Yuuka stood behind his son and rested his hand on Naruto's shoulder before the small boy looked up at him awkwardly from the current angle, he corrected himself and turned to face Yuuka with a smile on his own face. "Well done Naruto, I kind of expected you to be the motivation for Kyota to finally walk, she thinks the world of you, especially at such a young age" Yuuka said to his son as he ruffled the hair on the top of his head as Naruto blushed and moved his father's hand off his head. Yuuka giggled at the action as he knew why Naruto was acting like this and it had a little to do with the two ladies that stood at the doorway to the back area. "Well done Naruto, you've helped your sister through one of the hardest parts of her life to date" Yuuka finished as he moved away from his son and walked over to his wife who was currently gushing to their daughter about her achievement.

Once Yuuka had finally left him he turned to Ino and Sakura before smiling awkwardly and rubbing the back of his head, a sure sign to Yuuka as he looked back that Naruto was somewhat nervous. With a slight chuckle to himself he turned to his wife and gave her all of his attention.

"Hey girls, what brings you here?" Naruto asked them both as he stopped rubbing the back of his head and instead looked to them both with a smile on his face.

"You of course you idiot" Ino shot back to him as Naruto laughed slightly at the way Ino acted towards him, it were like they had done this for years whereas it had only been about two weeks they had known each other.

"That's awfully nice of you, how can I help you then?" Naruto asked them as he smiled widely to them both, causing Ino to be taken aback by the happiness and Sakura to slightly blush because of all the attention.

"Well we wanted to play with you, will you play?" Sakura asked as the blush on her face seemed only to grow, this did not go unnoticed by Ino as she grinned widely at the apparent shyness her friend was being subject to. Naruto put his chin onto his thumb and index finger and stood as if he were in deep thought to the question.

Finally his head rose and he smiled at both girls. "Of course I'll play, what are we playing anyway?" Naruto asked as he stepped closer to both of them, looking at them individually for his answer, Sakura was unable to answer him as her mouth seemed to almost be glued shut, Ino jumped to her defence however.

"Why don't we play Ninja? After all Sakura and I are going to be ninja soon, why don't you show us how good you are compared to a pair of ninja?" Ino said to Naruto with confidence brimming in her voice, with a look over to Sakura the pink haired girl nodded her head in understanding and the blush on her face vanished.

"Ok, how do we play that then?" Naruto asked as this was a particularly new game to him, he had only ever really played with Gaara in the past and even then it had tended to be with a ball that they kicked to each other.

"Well, you are the enemy ninja who has stolen something from our village, me and Sakura have to either capture or beat you and retrieve that something" Ino answered as Sakura nodded her head in agreement, Naruto looked between them before a grin spread across his face.

"Ok, I'll play, my dad's been training me a bit so you can hit me with whatever you want, let's go!" Naruto yelled as he turned on the spot and sped off at an alarmingly fast pace. He had covered the entire length of the grassy area in the area within a few seconds and had leapt up onto the surrounding wall. Ino and Sakura were left with their mouths almost literally hitting the ground. How the hell could he do that! Such a reaction caught Yuuka's attention and he laughed at the way the girls watched his son's deft movements.

"Come get me Ninja, otherwise you will never retrieve this scroll!" Naruto yelled at the girls trying o get them motivated enough to chase him again. Coming out of their daze Ino and Sakura ran for the corner section of the wall where a tree had been planted. Ino leapt of the ground rebounding off the wall and then the tree before landing on the top of the wall. Sakura followed these exact same movements and landed slightly behind Ino. They then sped off after Naruto who also began running again.

Naruto rounded the corner of the wall that joined onto the house and ran onto the roof, laughing all the way. He fit the role of the bad guy really well actually, Yuuka thought to himself. He stopped at the centre of the roof and turned to confront his two 'enemies', Ino and Sakura continued on, backed up by his request that they use all they could both simply kept on barrelling towards him and opened up straight into Taijutsu. Ino punched right whereas Sakura kicked left, catching Naruto off guard and although it was hits from young girls, damn did they not hurt. Naruto grunted as both attacks hit him, the girls looked instantly shocked at what they had done.

"Naruto! We're sorry!" Sakura shouted to him as he looked up to her and just smiled at her, how damn happy was he after all?

"That's alright, I told you to hit me as hard as you could and you did, you win, I'm beat, here is the scroll" Naruto said as he extended his hand out with the imaginary scroll hidden within. Ino smiled as she extended her hand and took the imaginary scroll before placing it in her imaginary pouch.

"Mission accomplished, the enemy is defeated and we have the scroll, we shall bring the enemy with us for interrogation" Ino said to Sakura as the other girl nodded her head and Naruto's eyes widened at the mention of this.

"When the hell was that part of the game!" Naruto screamed out in fear while Ino and Sakura just laughed.

"We are playing ninja Naruto, it's part of the game" Ino answered him, at which he shut up realising that this was a part of the game they happened to omit from him. He allowed Sakura and Ino to drag him by his arms to the edge of the roof and softly landed on the ground while he landed on his face. He groaned as he was once again lifted off the ground and moved over to the porch where his family all sat watching.

"How did you get caught so easily by a pair of girls Naruto?" Yuuka cried from where he sat next to his wife and child, once those words had escaped his mouth though he wished he had never uttered them as he could feel the glare from Narino boring into the back of his skull and as he slowly turned to look at her he could see the flame in her eyes.

"And just what do you mean by that _dear_?" Narino asked as her voice literally screamed pissed off to everyone who could hear. Yuuka certainly did as he leapt up and ran into the courtyard screaming, accompanied by Kyota's amused giggles. "Naruto, would you mind watching over your little sister while I teach your father why not to undermine women?" Narino asked sweetly. Naruto nodded his head numbly and felt the arms that restrained him loosen. He looked at both of the girls and thanked them before he walked over to his mother and took the small girl from his mother. The giggling and cooing increased the second Naruto had a hold of Kyota and both girls could not help but make their way over to him when he had the little girl.

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><p>"You really do love your little sister don't you?" Ino asked as Naruto turned to look at her and smiled at her, but not one of his normal smiles, no. this smile was warm and loving.<p>

"Yes, she is like the earth I revolve around, I will protect her from every possible negative thing that could happen. I would even die for her, my life was a living hell before I met Yuuka-san and Narino-san, once they adopted me and gave me a little sister a promised that I would protect her forever and would make the world she lived in a peaceful place" Naruto told them as his smile never wavered, his voice was so sure and his body language betrayed no feeling of doubt.

"That was beautiful Naruto" Sakura said to him as she held her hand across her heart, that speech had really captured her and had shown her that Naruto was not a gullible little boy nor was he an idiot. He was going to make sure that all that he had said came true.

"Was it, I didn't mean it to be beautiful, I was just saying how much I love my little sister, there is nothing I won't do for her. If anyone ever wants to dispute that, I'll kill them" Naruto finished off with the slightest hint of venom in his voice as he sad 'kill them'. Both girls were taken aback by the strong use of words there, for a seven year old he should not be saying things like that.

"We don't deny what you have said Naruto, if we can we will help you" Sakura said to him without even asking for Ino's opinion in the matter, she didn't have to she knew that Ino would be with her anyway.

"Thank you ladies, you really are my favourites" Naruto said with a foxy grin as he turned back to his little sister and began to keep her entertained. He really did not realise the implications of what he had said as both girls had blushed deeply at what he had said. They looked to each other before they turned their attention to the man running around the training area screaming as his wife chased him.

_**Flashback end**_

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><p>Sasuke stared at the blonde haired boy who had been sat next to him this morning, he had expected the boy to try and talk to him by now but to his utmost surprise he had yet to even look at him. This did not bother Sasuke as it meant that there was at least one person in the world who would not use him because of his clan name and vast wealth. In truth he really wanted to talk with this other boy and see what he thought, how he feels , for once Sasuke was interested in talking to someone instead of them all wanting to talk to him. As the bell for the end of the school day went he decided now was the best time.<p>

Naruto, wait a second please?" Sasuke asked as Naruto turned with a somewhat confused expression on his face.

"Sasuke Uchiha is going to fight the whiskered freak!" one of the boys within the classroom called out and in an instant both Naruto and Sasuke were surrounded by hundreds of children wanting to see their fight. Naruto turned to Sasuke with a dark look on his face.

"Is that true Sasuke?" Naruto asked as he stared directly at Sasuke with eyes that could cut through a soul by the looks of it.

"No and whoever called him a freak can answer to me then!" Sasuke yelled out catching Naruto off guard again, but at least this time it was in the nice way.

"What are you talking about Sasuke-kun? Why are you defending the freak?" an obnoxious girl asked as she tried her best to get as close to Sasuke as possible.

"He is not a freak! For one he is a human being! Two he is not an insatiable idiot who only wants to talk to me to gain status, I wish to talk to him but you imbeciles will not allow me to" Sasuke screamed to all of them as they visibly flinched at his raised voice towards them.

"You want to talk to me? You don't think that I'm a freak? Do you want to be my friend?" Naruto asked Sasuke as he knew he was getting his hopes up and was really unprepared right now to have those same hopes destroyed. Sasuke could see the hope in Naruto's eyes but other than that he could see every other person in the room watching him for his response; he could not help but want to really rub their noses the wrong way.

"Yes Naruto, I'll be your friend if you want" came Sasuke's eventual reply, which surprised everyone in the room, including Naruto. The surprise was only momentary however.

"Excellent, well at least I can leave this place on a good note, I got a new friend" Naruto began as he turned to the large concentration of people who now stood behind him. "I think it best to warn you that if I ever hear about you saying anything about my famil or Sasuke over there, then I will be forced to hurt you, the same goes for the ladies Ino and Sakura, say anything about any of them and I will hurt you" Naruto threatened before he descended the stairs and left the room without even uttering another word.

The room was left in silence, the Uchiha had made a friend in the room finally and it was from a freak who had only just entered the class, things were honestly going to be different from what was expected of the young Uchiha. The Naruto boy though, no-one was very sure of what to expect from him, he still had a great deal to be worked out about him.

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><p><em>Well here you guys go then, I hope that you enjoy this chapter, I don't know if I am veering completely off course or not but I am just writing things as the come into my head and I appear to be going through things quicker than I expect. I am going to go through a time skip again soon, but the whole situation with the Uchiha massacre will not happen in this story, if this angers you then I am sorry. Anyway I shall hopefully have the next instalment for this story out within the next fortnight. Goodbye my friends and until then enjoy and review please =] – Varrukh <em>


	11. Chapter 11 Awakened

Punch was met by punch and kick was deflected by yet another kick as a battle raged on. It seemed as if there would be no clear winners as the blows were effectively at the same level and neither combatant was allowing any leeway. Both sent particularly powerful kicks to each other and were both sent a few yards away from the opposites. They both looked to each other across the space between them and had a smile spreading across their faces as they looked on.

"Final attack decides the winner?" one of the combatants asked casually with a smile.

"You bet'cha" came the hyperactive reply. Both people's faces grew into much larger smiles and without much more a due they had charged at each other with their fists prepared for that final strike.

The fists connected together with a deafening crack followed by a loud cry of "Damnit!" which in turn was eventually followed by a feminine voice.

"Naruto, What have I told you about swearing near your sister?" Narino asked from her vantage point in the kitchen. Naruto turned to look at his mother with a sheepish grin on his face and rubbed the back of his head.

"Sorry mom" he called back to her before he turned back to his 'enemy'. "Where do you pull all of that power from? Honestly it seems as if every time that we spar you just become stronger" Naruto complained to his companion in his training ground are out the back of his house.

"My brother helps me to train, every night that he is able to come home he trains me in the ways of the Uchiha" Sasuke answered him as he smiled at the look Naruto had given him. "What?" Sasuke asked the pouting boy with a small laugh.

"That's not fair, your brother is the commander of the ANBU and not to mention very proficient in the ways of your clan. I don't have anyone to teach me any techniques to get stronger, all my father trains me is how to control my chakra,, he says I will need it when I unlock my second chakra supply. He didn't tell me when or how though" Naruto complained to his friend while at the same time Sasuke was left thinking about what Naruto had just pointed out.

"I will give you that, my brother is very smart and indeed very proficient. You have got ability however that some find it hard to achieve and you will be far ahead of others in our year at school" Sasuke told his friend and found it amusing how Naruto's face lit up when he heard he may be ahead of others for once.

"Go on, I'm interested now" Naruto said to his friend as a devilish grin spread across his features.

"I don't know if that's a good idea, I wouldn't want you to get big-headed on this, also it helps me if I keep you in the dark about your apparent ability" Sasuke joked as Naruto looked absolutely destroyed for a second before finding his grin again.

"Then I'll just have to find out what this ability is then wont I? Until then though, what say you to another spar?" Naruto asked confidently as he shook his wrist free of the knacks that had been hurting for a few seconds, now feeling excellent. Sasuke almost groaned in exasperation as Naruto had said this.

"I tell you this Naruto, your ability in conjunction with your determination is a scary thing you know that?" Sasuke asked his friend as he fell into his own stance again, prepared for Naruto to charge again.

* * *

><p>Naruto took a moment to again try and figure out what Sasuke meant about his ability, but did not dwell on the fact as Sasuke's foot had come shooting towards his face. As quickly as he could he brought up his right forearm to take the brunt of the hit. After taking the shock of the attack Naruto pushed away with his arm and forced Sasuke to turn around.<p>

With Sasuke's back to him now Naruto tried to aim an attack for his friends head with his fist, but before he could land such a hit his hand was caught. Sasuke looked at him side on with a smile "Honestly Naruto, you're going to have to fight me a lot harder if you want to beat me with only Taijutsu" Sasuke chided on as Naruto felt his face getting hotter. Sasuke grinned as he could see that he had succeeded in getting under Naruto's skin, he loved this fighting banter.

"Shut up!" Naruto yelled as he sent his other fist crashing forwards at Sasuke's face only for Sasuke to twist out of its path and pull at his hand sending Naruto into a mid-air twist that had him landing on his feet only at a ninety degree angle. He looked up to Sasuke who was the only reason he had not hit the floor yet and with a smirk Sasuke let go of him. With a thump Naruto had hit the ground.

"Cheap shot" Naruto complained from the ground as Sasuke laughed at his simplistic complaint about what had happened. Naruto jumped back onto his feet again and went back to his onslaught of Sasuke. He was sending punches and kicks left right and centre, only for Sasuke to dodge the majority of them all of the time. For Sasuke's entire prowess however he was still only a child and therefore had a limit to his stamina and endurance, and right now they were running low.

Naruto's attacks were becoming faster to his eyes and he could feel that he was slowly beginning to lose against his friend, of course this was how it usually happened, sure Naruto would complain about him getting stronger and in all honesty he did usually get stronger. That was just so that he could last a little bit longer against Naruto though. Sasuke could always win their first spar but as it usually dragged into their second or third that was when he would begin to find himself in trouble of losing.

Naruto sent a punch for Sasuke's head that Sasuke managed to back step away from, the way he positioned himself however he was facing Naruto diagonally to the right. With a quick movement Sasuke had dove in at Naruto and sent an open palm right at Naruto's stomach that had the blonde coughing and spluttering. Taking the momentary victory Sasuke took the precious moments to catch his breath before Naruto would recover enough to fight again.

Naruto was quick on his recovery and was ready to fight again before Sasuke was quite ready to fight again and it was then that Sasuke realised his attack had not had the desired effect. He had hoped to keep Naruto out for two minutes at the most as the technique was supposed to do but Naruto had managed to override it as easily as he managed to do with some of his other techniques. Within seconds Naruto was all over him again with his attacks becoming much more ferocious and Sasuke struggling to keep up with the movements it was like Naruto was becoming a blur. With one final punch Naruto was finally able to catch Sasuke on his chin and sent him through the air.

Sasuke landed on the ground with a grunt and for the slightest of seconds he felt as if he saw a flash of red cross his vision and when he looked at Naruto he could see a strong blue chakra flame floating from his body but all around the outside of Naruto an almost cocoon like chakra of orange colour had surrounded him in the visage of a fox with nine tails. Upon closing his eyes and re-opening them Sasuke found that his vision was back to normal and that Naruto had made his way over and was holding his hand out to help Sasuke back onto his feet.

* * *

><p>With a grunt Naruto had pulled Sasuke back onto his feet. "Sorry about that Sasuke, I just wanted to be able to beat you after losing only once for a change, I didn't want to go too far" Naruto apologised before Sasuke placed a hand on his shoulder and looked at him seriously forgetting about what he had seen only a few moments before.<p>

"Don't be, that is your ability Naruto, your sheer endurance and determination is on a level that not many can compare with" Sasuke said to his friend with a smile, noticing Naruto's mood not changing much he continued on. "It's even stronger than my own" Sasuke finished. Well damn if that didn't get a response. Naruto instantly looked up at him.

"Really, I have more endurance and determination than you? I find that hard to believe, you always win our first spars and at school you are more capable of beating everyone in spars, I can't beat anyone in fights at school, they always beat me" Naruto began as he could feel the crushing weight of forever losing to everyone in their year at school. "It's like everyone's families teach them fighting techniques and family techniques but my father doesn't want to teach me any more than how to control chakra. It's as if he just doesn't want me to get anywhere in the ninja world" Naruto said finally as he landed on the ground in a sitting position.

"I doubt that highly Naruto, your dad at least gives you attention and shows you his love for you, mine barely even recognises my existence" Sasuke said to his friend as he stood in the same position as before whilst looking down at Naruto where he sat.

"You still have your brother though Sasuke, he loves you and gives you attention, he realises your potential and wants to help you reach it, I don't have anyone to teach me anything, while you are able to use fire techniques I'm stuck channelling my chakra into nothing" Naruto complained from his sitting position while playing with loose strands of his sandal.

"You are sounding almost selfish Naruto, it's most unlike you" Sasuke pointed out to his friend with a raised eyebrow.

"I know it may sound selfish but I am honestly doing it for selfless reasons, I want to get to learning techniques as soon as possible so that I can protect my family and my precious people" Naruto answered him back with no hint of any hesitation felt in his voice.

"Naruto, we are seven years old, we have got plenty of time before we really have to worry about being fully fledged ninja, anyway with my brother and your father we don't need to look after ourselves right now" Sasuke told Naruto, yet noticing how Naruto's mood did not change in the slightest Sasuke changed tactics. "I'll make you a deal, if by the time we graduate from the academy you haven't been taught any techniques I'll try to train you myself" Sasuke said to the blonde haired boy and smiled due to the instant grin that wound its way onto Naruto's face.

"You got yourself a deal partner!" Naruto sais to Sasuke as he lifted himself off of the ground and looked directly at Sasuke, he moved his arm out in front of himself and readied his hand for a handshake. Sasuke took the outstretched hand and shook it thoroughly.

* * *

><p>Across the courtyard a figure stood watching both of the boys as they made their pact, a smile spread across their features too before they sprang from their standing position into the air. They landed right in-between both of the boys while they were still shaking hands. The looks of shock crossed their faces seconds before the persons fists had connected with both of their faces and sent them to the adjacent wall of the courtyard. Naruto collided with the wall while Sasuke managed to twist in order to have his feet connect with the wall. Bending his knees on impact Sasuke then dropped to the ground in order to pick Naruto up from the ground.<p>

With a grunt of pain Naruto was up also and both of them stared at their sudden enemy. They stood in a complete black suit, black sandals, sock, pants and mesh shirt. Across the mesh shirt they had on a black trench coat like clothing that billowed in the wind and was left open. Their face was covered as there was a bandage like substance that was coating most of the head besides the eyes. They would have been normal bandages had they been white and not as ragged as they were. Through the gap for the eyes, Sasuke could have sworn that he could see nothing but blank expanses. The person appeared to be fully prepared for what it was doing as it had the different weapons pouches and even scrolls ready to do whatever must be done. So here they stood two seven year olds completely unready for battle against a fully kitted out battle ready person. Isn't life a bitch sometimes?

"Naruto we don't stand a chance against this guy" Sasuke pointed out to his ally and to his relief he could see that Naruto understood this perfectly due to the way his head nodded ever so vigorously.

"I know, the way he holds himself coupled with his attempt to hide everything about himself makes me think he has something to hide" Naruto answered as he finished his one-over of the ninja opposite them.

"For two young boys you are surprisingly smart, however I cannot have you surviving as it will cause some problems" The person said to them both as they sprinted from the spot right over to Naruto and Sasuke's position, taking barely any time to reach them and as such left both boys unprepared for his presence so close so such, neither were prepared when Naruto was kicked halfway across the courtyard and Sasuke was lifted high into the air by the collar of his clothes.

The person looked deeply into Sasuke's eyes with their expanses of space it had in place of eyes. Sasuke stared back defiantly, he wanted to check up on his friend but knew for a fact that a hit like that would not keep Naruto down; he just got back up from everything. He was stuck in that position for barely even a few seconds before he could see Naruto's face phasing in next to their attackers head with his foot primed for the person's head, just as Sasuke thought, Naruto wasn't down for all too long. His foot connected with the person's head and sent them skidding along the ground, dropping Sasuke to the ground in the process.

Naruto looked sideways at Sasuke who was picking himself up off the ground. "You ok?" Naruto asked concerned without ever once taking his eyes off of their opponent. Sasuke looked to Naruto's face and looking to his eyes could see the faintest traces of ruby within those normally caring and considerate cerulean eyes. The way that Naruto was standing was also most unlike him too. He was standing with more of his back showing to Sasuke, more as if he was protecting Sasuke than expecting him to help. He never acted like this, Naruto always knew Sasuke to be capable but this was not like the Naruto he knew.

The power that Naruto had shown was most unlike him too, sure enough Sasuke knew he had power as he had experienced it before but Naruto had hit him with his full power before and Sasuke was able to stand his ground. That kick though, it had lifted the man right off of his feet and sent him skidding along the ground. Now here Naruto stood with his body tense in front of Sasuke just standing there staring at the person.

After he was finished physically examining Naruto Sasuke finally gave his answer "Yeah I'm fine thanks, I don't think that we can take this guy on, come on we better run and find a Shinobi to help us" Sasuke said to Naruto as he turned prepared to leave the courtyard but was somewhat surprised when Naruto did not follow.

"No, I can't leave here, my family are all inside and I won't leave them with an enemy so close" Naruto answered slowly as he turned fully towards the enemy "I will protect my family in any way that I can! I don't care if I have no techniques or ability! I will never allow harm to come to my family!" Naruto shouted before he was ready to run away but was stopped surprisingly by Sasuke standing right in front of him. Sasuke's head was lowered and his hair hid his face, but after a moment his head lifted and Naruto could see the smile that was on Sasuke's face.

"Then at least let me help you yeah? I mean I know for a fact that you'd help me if my family were in trouble, and that you wouldn't take no for an answer" Sasuke said to his friend as his smile done nothing else than grow in size. "Let's beat this guy together alright?" Sasuke asked with a high degree of determination for a seven-year-old.

"That sounds good to me" Naruto answered back before Sasuke twisted around and they both charged towards their enemy.

* * *

><p>The person was able to get their bearing back on time however as they turned to the boys charging towards them. Naruto went low with an uppercut punch aimed for the man's gut, while Sasuke had went high and had jumped into the air and aimed his left foot for the person's face. Said ninja took precious moments to figure out his parry and decided on stopping the most dangerous of hits. Bringing his left arm down sharply he parried Naruto's hit and at the same time caused Sasuke to pass over the ninja.<p>

Sasuke landed behind the ninja and turned back to take his chances with the ninja's back, however the ninja had other ideas as he had Naruto right in front of him and momentarily shocked he took his chances. While in his crouched position the ninja reached into his waist pouch and pulled out an item. Naruto looked up in time to see a white glint cross the eye holes of the ninja attacking him and looked down in terror when he saw the item the ninja held. The black kunai glinted in the partial sunlight still balancing in the air. Naruto tried desperately to leap backwards but was ultimately unable to do so as the blade was struck right into his stomach.

Naruto's eyes widened instantly at the shooting pain that screamed through the entire core of his body. Sasuke's reaction was much the same as his eyes also bugged out of his head at the severity of the motion, his friend had been stabbed. With this realisation came a newfound emotion to the young Uchiha, having been brought up by his brother to be a positive person and try his best to refrain from the negative emotions in his life this was something new to Sasuke.

He could feel it building up inside of him. It was like a fire had been set in his soul and the image of the offending piece of metal that was inside of Naruto only managed to add fuel to the raging inferno that took place in the mind of one young Sasuke Uchiha. The ninja could feel an acute force of killing intent spilling off behind him and pulling the kunai out of the young blonde haired boy and eliciting a gasp of pain as they done so they turned to the other boy that had been there.

The gasp of pain from Naruto was all that was required. With that Sasuke was fully and completely aware of how he felt now, he felt unimaginable amounts of rage and guilt all rolled up into one thing, that was Sasuke. He sent his right fist flying towards the man at a speed he should not have been capable of and caught the ninja off guard as he done so and sent the ninja back a step as he took the hit onto his crossed arms. Sasuke was by no means finished however. He followed up by the opposite fist following the motion and after being blocked as well was followed by a swift kick to the ninja's feet which surprisingly enough to the ninja themself they were laid out on the ground.

Sasuke brought his foot around and drove it back down to the ground towards the masked ninja's face at a shockingly quick pace before the ninja was able to roll out of the way and allowed Sasuke's foot to connect with the ground. As it done so there were noticeable cracks forming from where his foot had landed, indicating a strong blow. The ninja leapt onto their feet and looked at the boy directly now as he seemed to have stopped the attacks for a moment.

The boy had black hair and was wearing a set of white shorts accompanied by a black long sleeves shirt. He could see the boy looking over to the blonde boy for the slightest of seconds before the little boy's gaze was back on him, that was when the ninja got the shock of his life. Those eyes, those damned eyes. The entire eye had turned completely red and all besides the black singular tomoe in each of the little boys blazing red eyes. The little bugger had a Sharingan.

The ninja could see Sasuke's face vacate all visible emotion except from pure and unrequited rage before he could see the boy running through different handsigns. The thoughts running through Sasuke's mind were haphazard at best but the most of what he was thinking was along the lines of 'this is my weakest jutsu that my brother has taught me but it has the capacity to be the strongest, I just have to hope that it's enough'. The ninja sped towards Sasuke as soon as they realised what the hand signs meant but was ultimately too slow as Sasuke took a deep inhalation of oxygen and holding his index finger and thumb together at the tips over his mouth blew out.

"Katon: Gyokaku no Jutsu!"

What resulted was magnificent in its simplest term and horrifying in the ninja's eyes. A great ball of flames sprouted out of the mouth of the young boy and flew directly at him, he was barely even afforded the time to lift his arms to defend himself from the great flaming ball that made its way across the courtyard floor towards him. The flames reached him and in the resultant blast sent him flying through the air until he was able to feel the ground below his feet, focusing chakra to his feet had dug his feet into the ground while at the same time sent chakra to his forearms in an attempt to stop the burning effects of the flames attacking him.

Sasuke had to let the attack stop eventually as his earlier fight with Naruto and now this use of his chakra was pushing him well beyond his limits, he knew that if he were to go on any further than this his body would expire from lack of chakra, simple as that. He just hoped that the technique had been enough to either beat the ninja or enough to discourage him enough for him to leave. Sasuke felt his chest starting to heave as he inhaled again after exhaling so much for the flaming technique. His chest felt extremely tight and his head felt light after doing such a feat, after struggling so long with it he manages to pull off something like that, was he really expecting it to be easy?

Falling to one knee Sasuke looked over to Naruto to find him still lying prone on the ground with his face lying on the ground. Sasuke's breathing became laboured as he noticed the flames in the direction he had sent them were dying down. Sasuke's anger started to leave him as he could not find any person within those flames at all and allowed his body to finally relax slightly and let loose a sigh.

"Do not take me so lightly child!" came a venomous voice from behind him and Sasuke turned only in time to see a fist that came speeding towards his face and connected with a strong surge that sent Sasuke flying through the air until he hit a tree in the corner of the courtyard. With a grunt of pain as he hit the tree Sasuke slid down until his body collided with the ground and he looked up at the person who had slowly made their way over to him.

"You know you had me worried for a second there, when I saw those eyes I had a feeling that maybe you would have caused me more of a problem…" the person began before they went to move their arm but were instead sent into a state of severe pain due to the burns on their arm "… well maybe you did cause me a problem, these arms hurt like fuck now" the person complained as they stared down at Sasuke who gave back a still defiant look.

"Why the fuck are you still looking at me like that? You lost and your friend over there is going to die" the person indicated by pointing their thumb in said direction, and then when Sasuke still did not answer him but kept his stare at the person, they became irritated and in anger reached down and grabbed Sasuke's clothes by the collar. Hefting him up into the air the person stared directly into Sasuke's sharingan, usually a bad idea, but he had already deduced that it was new at best.

"I'm still looking at you like this because you hurt my friend; I cannot ever forgive you for what you done to him" Sasuke said to the masked ninja who just stared on at him, motionlessly. A movement behind the ninja caught Sasuke's eyes and the sight done no less than terrified him. "By the looks of it though, I'm the least of your problems" Sasuke said in a terrified voice as he watched the ninja turn away from him in a more confused manner before finally looking behind him.

* * *

><p>As soon as he had seen the flames above the walls he had rushed over, he had no idea the sight that he would see. He had half expected to see Naruto with burns of course, with Sasuke apologising for misjudging the size of the fire ball, as children do, they make mistakes. To his surprise and horror however he comes home and into his courtyard completely ignoring his wife and daughter as they were sitting in the playroom, far away from the courtyard. He made his way outside only to come face to face with his son lying prone on the ground and Sasuke being held up in the air by a completely covered ninja. Needless to say Yuuka was definitely not a happy man now.<p>

He turned to apparent perpetrator and could see the look of terror that took over Sasuke's eyes, he should feel terror, invoking the wrath of Yuuka Inoyichi was never a smart thing to do, the Black Flash of Konoha was not as forgiving as the Yellow when it came to his enemies, if they ever touched his family he made sure the enemy knew never to do it again. A second passed by and Yuuka had appeared behind the man in a flash of black and had released Sasuke from the persons grip before coating his fist in lightning and punching the person square in the face. Catching Sasuke in his right arm he slowly turned around to watch as the person flew across the courtyard and into the opposite wall.

With another black flash he was over Naruto and picking him up into his arms, walked over to the porch where he lay his son and his son's friend before turning his full attention back onto the perpetrator.

"Aha, just the man I wished to see, I wondered if killing your beloved boy would be enough to register your attention" came across the sickly voice of the individual. "I guess it is only fair that you know who I am no? I am pretty sure that you will remember my face when you see it" The person said in a still sickening voice as he reached up to the bandages all over his face and revealing it for all to see. The black bandages fell from his face to revel it.

Golden short hair was revealed alongside a set of golden eyes that seemed to shine out with the presence of the bandages gone. On the man's face were markings that ran across both of his eyes like tribal tattoos, and finally a large scar that ran from his right eye down to his chin. Yuuka took a step back in utter shock, by all rights this man should be dead, and there was no way that he could be alive.

"Kuromi… I thought you were dead?" Yuuka asked through more shock than fear.

"Nope alive and well thanks to your damn friend's pity, I would have much more liked to kill him but since I hear he's dead anyway I guess you'll have to do!" the man yelled before he charged across the courtyard towards Yuuka, Yuuka instantly took up defencive stance and prepared for the fight of his life.

'This really cant be good if this all goes like last time then no-one stands a chance of getting out unharmed or alive for that matter' Yuuka thought to himself as he prepared for the inevitable attack. 'This had better not escalate too far' Yuuka hoped to himself before he moved also, two fists connected in mid-air and created a large blast, kicking up dirt and dust.

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><p><em>Sorry about the late update and the rather short chapter but imma make the next chapter bigger how does that sound? Anyway I hope you like this new chapter of The Demon Of Peace and continue to read on as I continue, I would like to thank those who have been stiking with it and ask that you continue to do so, and drop off a comment as I continue writing this, otherwise I can't address any problems you may have with this fic. Well that is me done my rant so I bid you farewell until next chapter, R&amp;R as always and see you laters guys, Cheerybyes - Varrukh<em>


	12. Chapter 12 Kekkei Genkai Revealed

"It's been a while" Kuromi stated to his opponent while smiling at him almost warmly. Yuuka was particularly confused at the way Kuromi was acting and was wondering if he had maybe jumped off the deep end at some point in his life, the fact he had broken into his home not counting right now.

"It has, I was a much younger man when we last fought each other, and same applies for you" Yuuka answered evenly as he could hear Narino rushing out to the porch. Once she reached the porch she crashed to the ground at Naruto's side as tears began to fall down her beautiful face at the damaged state of her foster son.

"Naruto!" Narino screamed as she looked at her hurt son and then looked to the body next to him in almost the same condition minus the stab wound. "Sasuke" she gasped as her hand rushed to her mouth. The boys had been playing so happily not ten minutes ago and now they were both in almost critical condition. Naruto was bleeding deeply from a stab wound on his stomach and Sasuke was badly beaten with his body slightly swollen in some places, he however still tried to stand and defend his friend.

"Sasuke, please rest, you will hurt yourself if you try to stand now" Narino tried to reason to the Uchiha but she received a reply from the boy she should have expected.

"I can't let you get hurt, Naruto would never forgive me if I let you get hurt" Sasuke answered through a clearly tired voice. His very body looked dropped and completely worn out as he tried to stand defensively in front of both her and Naruto, she could not have him getting hurt though. She began to move but was stopped suddenly when the man noticed her about to move from the middle of the courtyard.

"My what a beautiful lady we have here, quite the slave you have managed to accumulate for yourself Yuuka" Kuromi stated from his standing point as he looked at Narino, he could see the beauty that simply glowed from her, she was the woman any man would want. "Good to see you again Narino, lovely to see time has not been harsh on you" Kuromi added with an evil smirk that grew on his face, Narino looked at him with hatred burning within her eyes at the mere mention of such things.

Kuromi had barely finished his last sentence in the direction of the beauty of a woman before he heard the swish coming from behind him and leapt directly up into the air, clearly missing a kick that was aimed for his head not seconds ago. Flipping around in mid-air he landed on his feet again a few feet away from Yuuka and took the time to study his adversary. There was lightning coursing off the body of Yuuka as he glared hatefully at Kuromi; he was seriously beginning to find it hard to contain his emotions. Whenever he fought in the past he would keep a level head no matter what the situation was because it increased the success rate and meant issues involving loved ones could be addressed quicker.

Yuuka attempted to calm himself down as he allowed the lightning that was running all over his body to collect around the area of his index finger. Kuromi could see what Yuuka was trying to do and leapt back a greater distance than he already had. Yuuka gave chased in the same direction before pointing his index finger in Kuromi's direction and releasing the entirety of the lightning in a fine almost concentrated beam "Lightning Bolt!". The length greatly surprised Kuromi who had misjudged its length as it pierced right through his left shoulder.

With a grunt of pain he landed on the ground with a more collected looking Yuuka standing opposite him, he had managed to get himself into the correct psyche for such a confrontation. He could analyse his enemy and find a way to beat them, the stakes were far higher in this situation than in any other he had ever been in before though. All of his family were on the line here and he could not afford any of them to get hurt, he simply could not allow such an atrocity to take place.

These thoughts had adverse effects on his concentration as he found himself unable to fully contain his emotions. Fear ran through his body like his very blood at the same time as anger made that same route. He feared for his family and he was furious at the state his son had gotten into because of his past. Yuuka's mind was trying desperately to come to any form of compromise between his emotions and his rational thought, unfortunately he was finding this hard to come by.

* * *

><p>Kuromi had not even taken the opportunity to try and attack Yuuka while he was quite so clearly not even there with them. He simply waited for Yuuka to fight him, that's all he wanted was a fight to regain his honour. He had been hated by his comrades because he had survived an attack by Minato Namikaze, not many ninja could boast such a thing that went up against him. He had even gone up against Minato and his two teammates, and was still able to boast his survival. What should have been a sure sign of true grit and strength was instead labelled as cowardice in the face of an opponent and he was viewed as scum for surviving such a confrontation.<p>

Now here he was up against one of those who had him humiliated so long ago, how he would have preferred to go up against Minato instead of this man however. It was Minato who had used that damn technique which had finished him off, another thing that annoyed him was due to the damage made by the attack it was clear that he had taken significant damage but somehow it was not recognised. His opponent was taking far too long to make any kind of response and Kuromi really wanted to get this all over and done with soon, he was really beginning to reach his wits end.

"You know I had my fair share of the beautiful Narino over there at one time" Kuromi began as he looked towards the beauty in question and could see the horrified and disgust that plastered on her face. "The price for her was so damn high for her too and it took much of my mission's earnings in order to get her, but damn if it wasn't worth it" Kuromi finished with an evil smirk flashing onto his face at the response he received.

From where Sasuke was barely able to stand he was able to witness as Yuuka looked human one moment but the next he looked like a demon, in the most literal sense of the word. Yuuka's features could no longer be made out as he was completely covered in the powerful lightning bolts that cascaded all over his body and made a visage all of its own. The very ground beneath his feet began to give way and crack because of the sheer amount of lightning that was coming off from him. After a second the lightning moved away from his whole body to his head and his hands. The lightning covered the entirety of his knuckles on both hands while at the same time rushing to the place his eyes were and shot inwards.

The lighting burst his eyes to all extents, and took their place poking in and out of the now vacant eye holes. With Yuuka now back to visibility he looked so much more powerful than he had done so previously. He had previously been wearing a Jonin vest alongside blue pants and black long sleeved shirt. Pretty standard issue.

Now he looked much more dangerous, the lightning that coated his hands burned away at the fabric of his shirt's sleeves and left them burned and shorter, up past his elbow on one arm and halfway up the forearm on his other. The vest itself had burst open with the force of the lightning chakra forced onto it and the zipper had just melted. His vest was tattered slightly with most of it remaining intact; under it the blue shirt was ripped at some points which gave a view of a physically powerful body. Much of the fabric on his pants was ripped and burned also but to a much lesser degree, his sandals were gone, completely obliterated.

Kuromi had his wish, Yuuka was ready to fight. With the sound of a bolt of lightning Yuuka had disappeared and reappeared in front of Kuromi with his fist brought back and ready to lay straight into Kuromi's face. Kuromi was unable to register the movements in time and had to take the blow full force to the face, which caused him to fly through the courtyard and straight through one of the surrounding walls. Yuuka chased after him the second after he had landed the punch. Within that second he had vanished into thin air, intent to find and end Kuromi.

* * *

><p>Narino watched in complete sorrow, it was her fault that Yuuka was lost now. There were things in her past that she was not proud of, of course Yuuka knew of them, he knew everything there was to know about her, she kept nothing from him. Bringing up such a thing in order to degrade her however was a sure fire way in order to get right to Yuuka. He just cared too much about those he loved to let them be talked about in such ways without doing anything.<p>

Bringing her attention back to the greater danger at hand she looked down upon the boy who was laying at her lap, she moved over and laid his head upon her lap while she stroked his head. Looking at his wound she winced at the look of it, that looked like a painful injury, she was going to have to take him to the hospital. Her attention was brought back to Sasuke when he suddenly dropped to the ground in complete and utter exhaustion. He did not even stay awake as his body instantly shut down and he went to sleep. Now Narino had to take two to the hospital.

Rain began to fall as Narino found herself alone out on the porch with her son's head upon her lap and his best friend laying on the ground not too far away. All of them were getting wet but Narino was incapable of getting up. What she had feared had happened, maybe not in the fashion it had but she had expected Naruto to get hurt eventually, she had expected it to be more psychological though. Never did she think he might get physically hurt and her heart ran at unhealthy speeds at the mere thought of it.

Her son was just below her and he was fighting for his life, he was too small and young to take a hit like that and for it to miss all of his vital organs, and if he were to die then the Kyuubi would get out and would cause havoc again. She had to get him to the hospital and she had to get Sasuke there too. Lifting herself off of the ground she then stooped down to pick up Naruto. He was not the lightest of loads to lift but she could do it. The problem was going to be getting Sasuke up too, with a grunt she knelt down and tried her best to get Sasuke on to her shoulder as she placed Naruto on her opposite shoulder.

With both boys on her shoulders she began her trek towards the front door and was about to leave before another piece of reality hit her square in the face. She heard crying from one of the rooms next to the living room. How could she ever forget? Her baby was still in the house. What if the man came back and tried to get at Yuuka by attacking the baby? No she couldn't risk it, she moved back into the living room and settled both boys onto couches before going into the room and lifting up her two year old girl. She walked back into the living room with her mind clouded as to her next move.

The boys needed medical attention but she just simply could not get them to the hospital by herself, she may be strong but she had a baby girl and there were two boys she would have to carry. She began to despair as she thought about her predicament, she was entirely useless right now and absolutely hate it, falling to her knees on the floor with her baby in her arms she let loose a deep groan and felt tears begin to fall down her cheeks. She was powerless and incapable of helping. The boys were going to be in even more trouble if she could not think of something to do soon.

* * *

><p>"I never thought I would see you cry about children after you must have gotten rid of so many before they could even form" came a sinister voice as Narino looked up instantly to the shockingly close proximity of that voice and the implications it left if his voice was here. She could see the completely unscathed face of Kuromi staring at her with those golden eyes with almost a sense of hunger in those eyes, she had seen that look before and did not much like it. "I wonder if you are as good now as you were then." Kuromi asked as he reached into his weapons pouch and pulled out a kunai. "Don't worry, your husband won't be back in time to save you, I have made sure of that" Kuromi said to Narino before the thought could even from within her mind, he got steadily closer to her and as she looked at the faces of Naruto and Sasuke was silently glad that they would miss what was about to happen.<p>

Kuromi reached Narino and looked at her with a lecherous grin while looking all over her body, oh how long it had been from he had had pleasures of this body. Then there was the eye sore in the form of that child nestled up against those perfect breasts of her where his hands could be right now. In a moment of sheer ignorance and brutality Kuromi grabbed the head of Kyota and tossed the small child across at the boy he had stabbed. He then proceeded to cut at one of the straps on Narino's blue dress while she screamed about Kyota who had cried after such an act.

Kuromi was about to retort but not before he heard a low deep growl in the direction he had just tossed that damned eye sore. The boy he had stabbed was enveloped in a vibrant red chakra and his azure eyes were staring right at him with a hatred and familiarity he had missed before. He held on to Kyota possessively and softly, protecting her from himself basically. He was about to say something but instead began coughing heavily and retching. Blood began to ooze out of his mouth as this continued and Narino was beginning to feel worried for her son. Eventually the coughing became so strong that Naruto ended up vomiting a rather disgusting red lump of goo. A particularly large amount of the goo escaped from his mouth and made a large splatter across the floor. Naruto collapsed soon after such a feat and enveloped Kyota in a protective hold as he done so with his last conscious thought. The small girl screamed in fright as her big brother seemed to give up completely in his fight for consciousness.

"Will that child not shut up?" Kuromi shouted in sheer anger as he lifted himself up off the ground and moved away from the frozen form of Narino whose dress was now only being held up by one of the straps. Kuromi neared the two children and pulled back his fist, a punch to a young child's face would usually shut them up. He brought his fist across the face of Kyota who was still hidden under Naruto and instead hit Naruto across his ribs with an audible crack. Narino winced at the attack Naruto had just taken and done what she had never done before because she had hated the idea of it.

Kuromi was not prepared when he felt huge force acting against him and caused him to fly right across the couch in which both Kyota and Naruto lay motionless. Kyota was still crying at the inactivity of her big brother. Kuromi picked himself up from the pile that he ended up in after such an unexpected attack. Looking back in the direction that he had been sent from he could see Narino standing with her palm facing towards him and her face shadowed by her long hair. Kuromi felt a smirk growing on his face. So the girl knew how to fight did she? She was a little bit frisky, but he liked frisky.

"So you can fight back Narino-san, funny you used to always take things as they happened in the past" Kuromi said to her as he could feel a chuckle roll off his tongue at saying such things. Kuromi slowly walked back to where he had been previously but was surprised when Narino vaulted over the couch in order to get between him and the children. Her face was still shadowed by her long hair.

"Say what you want about me, my past is far from spotless… but never… ever…" Narino began as he voice literally seethed with anger and hatred. Kuromi witnessed as chakra began to take physical form around the form of the beautiful woman and began to blow around her in a furious whirlwind. Her hair began to whip around in such wind and it was then that Kuromi was able to see it, one of the few things that could make every Shinobi with knowledge of such a thing fear for their very existence if they saw it. He was no exception to this rule and at the sight of it he instantly stepped back in fear.

"… HURT MY CHILDREN" Narino screamed as her eyes were finally revealed through the whirlwind of chakra. The purple iris had taken over the entire sclera of her eye and rings had formed after spaces from her iris. Kuromi had never seen these but he had definitely heard of them.

"Rinnegan" Kuromi slowly said to himself as he stared in complete fear at the beauty before him. He never had any idea that one as beautiful as her and especially with her past track record, would possess one of the most legendary Dojutsu known to the ninja world.

Narino did not even grace him with an answer as she leapt at his form and extended her hand out towards him. Thrusting her palm at his chest he felt the massive force acting against his chest and felt it launching him right through the porch doors and back out into the courtyard of the Inoyichi household. He smashed right into one of the back walls with such force that he was trapped within the stone. Narino had not stopped her momentum after hitting him as she appeared before him again with her right fist primed for an attack. Time slowed down as Kuromi watched the way that Narino's face looked so close up.

Her face was twisted into a hateful sneer as her fist began its decent towards his face; tears ran down her cheeks from her purple eyes and were caught in mid-air as he watched this all happening in slow motion. Her hair was flowing in every direction and shone in the contrasting light of the sun which had made itself noticed now. Time went back to normal and the force of Narino's punch could be seen through the other side of the wall as a large crater mark began to crack after the initial impact.

Throughout the entire time of the battles that raged at the Inoyichi residence, it came as no surprise that the huge surges in chakra would bring attention to the place, with one being overly familiar. As it was there was a fair amount of Shinobi making their way to the Inoyichi residence.

"Where have you been hiding those eyes you whore?" Kuromi asked from behind the fist of Narino which was firmly implanted within his face. She retracted her fist after his statement and could see the lecherous smile that was still present on his face. "You don't think that as a Rock ninja I can't take a few hits do you?" Kuromi asked her as he cocked his head and wrapped his arms around the waist of Narino.

There were absolutely no blemishes on the body of Kuromi and as he hugged her closer to him she could feel the disgusting anticipation growing against her thigh. Looking up into his face again his eyes told her of his insatiable appetite and the fact that she was the main course of his feast.

Well not today, she was not going to let this man have his way with her. Forcing her palms forwards up to the chest of Kuromi she pushed outwards with the extra application of force she had just acquired. This sent Kuromi the rest of the way through the wall and crash into the opposite wall across the street. He fell out of the wall and landed on one knee with a groan as he done so. This was not happening, he was not going to be beaten by a woman, he had come here to kill her and finally kill Yuuka, and then he would have his honour back. A little hanky panky would have been nice too but she would just not relent.

Forcing chakra through his feet and into the earth he got in tune with his natural affinity and closed his eyes before standing straight again and opening his arms wide. Chunks of the ground and the wall behind him began to fly off and attach to his body, weaving intricate designs between the cracks of the rocks. It covered most of his body before reaching his neck and stopping.

Narino made her way across the wall and landed in the pathway opposite him and showed no surprise to his new state of appearance. He wasted no time in completing his jutsu and covering his entire head in a helmet made of pure rock. Thus the Earth Armour Technique was complete and Kuromi settled into a stance by placing his left foot in front and using his right foot as a suitable platform for his entire weight.

Narino barely took a second to register the change before she had charged directly at her attacker, no mercy would be shown to the man who harmed her children and had made it clear his intentions towards her. She leapt into the air with her open palm prepared to strike forward at Kuromi but before she could send it forward Kuromi had already punched out in the area before him. Suddenly coming towards Narino was thousands of sharpened fragments of stone flying off from Kuromi's right fist and arm leaving them unarmoured. Narino quickly shot her hand forwards and released the force that she had been gathering in her hand; it expelled outwards and sent the stones ricocheting in all directions in a semi-circle around her.

Landing on her feet she looked at Kuromi again to find that his right arm and hand were completely unarmoured now and that they could be attacked if only just for distactionary tactics. It was not to be however as Kuromi could see her analysing his arm and raised it into the air. "Too bad Narino-san, I can regenerate my armour however many times I want" Kuromi said to her as she could see the faintest of hints of grin behind the helmet across his head.

Kuromi sent his left hand forwards causing the stoned on his left arm and hand to shoot off in the direction of Narino, as they flew through the air the stones ground against each other, effectively sharpening them further. Narino instinctively opened her arms out and sent a large invisible barrier around herself as the projectiles closed in on her. This again sent the stones ricocheting off in all directions, a thing which did manage to cause Kuromi some slight annoyance, but nonetheless he had another ace up his sleeve.

"Honestly Narino-san I'm hurt that you won't let me get near you at all, you used to be so happy when you were close to me" Kuromi said to the still seething beauty who had since dispelled her invisible barrier.

"It was not my choice to make, many things can be acted you know" Narino answered back in a monotonous voice which took Kuromi by surprise, however he continued on.

"Narino-san I am deeply hurt by those words, are you trying to say you felt nothing for me at all?" Kuromi asked her with mock hurt within his voice, receiving only an angry growl in reply Kuromi guessed that he got his answer.

"Well we might as well finish this fight now don't you think Narino-san, although it pains me to kill one so beautiful as yourself, you really have bugged me beyond redemption" Kuromi said to the blue haired beauty in front of him. She showed no signs of having heard what he had said and simply stood in place as the stone armour clad man charged across the street towards her. She raised both of her hands in order to deflect him but was denied the opportunity when a flash of black appeared in front of her.

* * *

><p>"Sorry I'm late dear, I've been stupidly chasing a clone around all this time" Yuuka explained as blue lightning coursed all over his body and arced off it to show his entire anger right now. That did not mean that the man who had been running across the street had lost any momentum and in fact was still charging right for both Yuuka and Narino. Narino could see the currents of lightning in Yuuka's eyes contorting even more before lightning coated his right hand. He spun around at close enough to the speed of light and with a roar most unlike Yuuka delivered the lighting coated hand right into the gut of the attacking Shinobi.<p>

Kuromi dropped to the ground after that hit, earth's elemental weakness was against lightning after all and as such the stone armour that Kuromi had been encased within crumbled away from his body revealing him to be much the same as before, only with a large wound on his stomach. Yuuka turned back to his wife, giving her a quick once over he could see that her dress strap was cut and although that angered him greatly, he understood that nothing was able to transpire. His eyes returned to normal again. After his anger subsided the lightning within his eyes began to become liquid and formed an eye for him, then repeated the process for his other eye.

With his eyes back Yuuka looked to his wife with the love and care that he kept only for her, she was the mother of his children and his wife, she was too important to him for him to just not care about her. That was for men who did not know how much of a good thing they had. He brought his hands up to her chin in order to make her look up to him so that he could see her beautiful eyes. Parting her hair to the side Yuuka brought her face back in order to gaze at the beauty that was his wife but was shocked by what he saw.

The Rinnegan, eyes he had not seen in a long time. The only time he had ever seen those eyes was during a small pit stop at Amegekure, which was the first time that Yuuka had felt like someone could kill him with the slightest of twitches. It unnerved him immensely and to see those same eyes on his wife only made his fears grow in size, life with Naruto in the village that hated him would be hard. Now his wife had arguably the strongest Dojutsu in existence, it would only take the council a small while to exploit her.

"Honey, we need to keep your eyes a secret from everyone from now on, I am not ashamed of them in the slightest but I am afraid of what the councilers of this village will do to you if they find out, having the rarest of Dojutsu will make you very popular" Yuuka explained to his wife as she looked at him sadly and nodded her understanding to him.

"Come now, I want to make sure that the boys are alright alongside Kyota-san, I can feel chakra signatures closing in on us and I would prefer to make sure my son and his friend are both safe" Yuuka said to his wife as she silently nodded at his side. They made their way into the house – not before looking at the motionless form of Kuromi and leaving him - to find Naruto and Sasuke still on their individual couches that Narino had left them. Kyota had since the earlier incident with Kuromi quieted down and was whimpering into the form of her older brother.

Yuuka lifted Naruto onto his shoulder, therefore allowing Kyota some space, which she did not appear too happy with as she began whimpering at the sudden loss of heat. Narino silently leaned over and picked up her daughter, once within the arms of her mother Kyota was silent again as she fell asleep within her arms almost instantly. Yuuka looked to his wife smiling as Kyota quieted down at her mere touch, Narino looked to her daughter and the look of sadness and guilt left her face as she stared lovingly at her daughter. Turning to the form of Sasuke Yuuka quickly lifted him onto his other shoulder, careful not to hurt him at all, like he had done with Naruto.

"Narino I will be taking Naruto and Sasuke to the hospital, I will literally be back in a second since I have to take Naruto and Sasuke there urgently" Yuuka explained to which Narino nodded with a smile finally finding its way onto her face. "I know Yuuka-kun, I will be fine for a second I am sure" Narino said sweetly to her husband at which he smiled and with a nod had left in a flash of black.

Narino could feel like her body was close to losing consciousness through some feeling she had not experienced before, however going by her symptoms of her body hurting slightly and feeling drowsy she felt it was probably chakra exhaustion or something to that effect.

* * *

><p>As such she was not prepared when four figures suddenly appeared within the living room with her. All were draped in white cloaks and wore masks of varying animals.<p>

"A second is much more than enough time for us to get both of you and leave here" one of the four figures said before leaping forwards and grabbing Kyota. Narino felt the sudden loss of weight where her child was and watched in horror as a man grabbed and held her before vanishing and then another man moving over to her while grabbing her and vanishing too. The other two men within the home quickly followed suit of their other two squad mates.

Yuuka returned home to find his ultimate horror in place. His wife was gone alongside his daughter. There was no chakra signature at all or any decent scent in order to follow. There was nothing, nothing to give him any idea of which way he should look. They were gone and he was not able to stop them. He fell to his knees, he felt worthless, he had not felt like this ever since the time the Kyuubi had taken over Naruto and killed the ninja that had attacked them.

They were gone, the loves of his life were gone. He couldn't take it, it hurt too much. He started to punch the ground, soft at first but as his anger grew so too did his strength. As eventually he was pounding the floor relentlessly, causing much of the floorboards beneath his fury to splinter and fly out in all directions.

This was the scene that the Hokage, Inoichi, Kane, Asuma, Kakashi, Kurenai and Anko came across as they responded to the chakra pulses that ran rampant throughout the village. Although finding Yuuka in such a state was somewhat scary for all of them as they had never seen Yuuka as one to be of anything but a happy and calm disposition. Something had definitely happened and Yuuka was not happy.

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><p><em>Well here you guys go I hope that you enjoy this chapter even if it does appear I may have went insane. I just felt it would be quite the twist if the beautiful Narino somehow had the Rinnegan and i know it may be harsh with the past ive gave her but it will be explained i promise, I would like you to tell me what you think of this idea as criticism is always accepted by me. Anyway enjoy reading and drop a little review if you wouldn't mind, thank you =] - Varrukh<em>


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